BCITO remains committed to helping learners gain the practical skills they need to build a rewarding and enduring career in the trades.

A significant milestone in this commitment is the transition from the Building, Construction, and Allied Trades Skills (BCATS) unit standards to skill standards. This change ensures BCATS continues to reflect the needs of employers, educators, and industry.

Since its introduction in 2008 by BCITO and the Built Environment Training Alliance (BETA), the BCATS programme has supported learners across Aotearoa New Zealand to explore a range of career pathways within the trades. Delivered in secondary schools, trade academies, training organisations, and Gateway programmes, BCATS gives learners a broad foundation across multiple trades.

What’s changing?

BCITO is developing a suite of new and improved BCATS resources for teachers, learners and home educators. These resources have been developed with extensive input from teachers and industry to ensure they are practical and relevant. Teachers can access these resources through BConstructive and myBCITO.

Other key changes include:

• Introduction of Achievement, Merit and Excellence grades to recognise learner effort and skill

• Contribution to NCEA certificate-level achievement

What are people saying about the resources?

Feedback from teachers engaging with the updated BCATS resources has been extremely positive.

“These resources are fantastic, well thought out and compiled. I taught in tertiary education for 20 years and understand the work required, and how important good resources and assessments are for the successful delivery of a programme, ease of use, and good outcomes for the students - which is the priority focus. Awesome job BCITO development team!” Teacher, Christchurch.

“Congratulations. The resources appear very student friendly and look smart and modern.” Teacher, Taranaki.

Looking ahead

BCITO will continue to work closely with teachers, industry partners and the Construction and Specialist Trades Industry Skills Board (CSTISB), to refine the BCATS resources and ensure a smooth transition to the new skill standards. This next phase marks an exciting new chapter for BCATS - one that supports learners and strengthens pathways into the trades.

For enquiries about the new resources, please contact Anna Douglas, BCITO Programme and Learning Designer - annad@bcito.org.nz