The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is calling on young people to consider a construction apprenticeship as an alternative to doing A-Levels.

The building industry is currently experiencing skills shortages and 182,000 construction jobs are expected to be created within the next five years.

Provisional statistics show that there were 314,600 apprenticeship starts in the first three quarters of the 2013/2014 academic year, but only 13,320 of these are in the construction, planning and built environment sector.

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Sarah McMonagle, Head of External Affairs at the FMB, said: "Now is the perfect time for young people to enter the construction sector. Research indicates that there will be 182,000 new jobs created in the building industry in the next five years and that 120,000 will need to be apprentices.

"To top that off 43% of employers nationally agree that they would be more likely to offer an apprenticeship than they were two years ago.

"There has never been a more exciting time to begin a career in construction and we're keen to demonstrate that A-Levels are not the only way forward for young people on GCSE results day."

(CD/JP)