TEC Approves BCITO Transition Plan

Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) today announced that the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has approved the BCITO transition plan.

This approval will see all of BCITO’s learners and arranging training functions, and the majority of BCITO’s employees transfer to Te Pūkenga subsidiary Work-Based Learning Ltd (WBL) on 4 October 2021, where it will become a separately branded business division.

BCITO’s standards-setting, qualifications development, and associated strategic/system-level functions, and the remainder of BCITO’s employees will transition into the Waihanga Ara Rau Construction and Infrastructure Workforce Development Council (WDC), while materials and documentation associated with two specific qualifications will transition to the Hanga-Aro-Rau Manufacturing, Engineering and Logistics WDC. The six new WDCs also officially open for business on 4 October.

BCITO Chair Mike King, said, "This is a significant milestone for BCITO and the many people that have worked so hard over many years to deliver highly skilled workers into this important sector. They can all be immensely proud of what we have achieved and look forward with confidence to the new challenges they face."

Mr King continued, "The wealth of skills, knowledge and experience that BCITO people take into Te Pūkenga and the WDCs gives me enormous confidence that through these reforms we will build a wonderful vocational learning system."

BCITO is a large Transitional ITO, and has continued to deliver for the sector throughout the transition period to date. BCITO has signed up over 6,500 apprentices in 2021 alone. This has also meant bringing on new employers to train. BCITO currently works with 8,350 employers, 1,800 trainees and has a total of 20,000 apprentices in training, an all-time record. It maintains 53 qualifications, six programmes of study, and 801 unit standards across NZQA Levels 2 to 5.

Current BCITO Chief Executive Toby Beaglehole was recently announced as the inaugural Chief Executive of WBL, and he will take up his new role on 4 October. BCITO will be the fourth Transitional ITO to transition its arranging training activities to other providers. The others are Competenz, NZMAC and Connexis. Following transition, BCITO will be referred to as the BCITO Business Division within WBL.

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