Posted on 12 February
Why I chose Quantity Surveying
I knew I wanted to do quantity surveying when I was in year 11. I knew I didn’t want to do A-levels, and I didn’t want to go to university. So, I felt a bit stuck until we were told about apprenticeships.
A careers advisor came to my college and told us all about them, two quantity surveyors came along too. They told us what they did day-to-day, and how they got into it. I was instantly interested as it was the exact thing I had been looking for.
I wasn’t good at English so the fact it was more numbers based appealed to me. I did a two-year T-Level in Design Surveying & Planning and three hundred and fifteen hours of work placement to get here.
Why LCB?
I felt like learning before I got here was just teachers putting on a PowerPoint and telling you to get on with it. Here, you learn something new every day. We do work on sustainability, for example, but it’s always linked back to quantity surveying.
I’ve been working since I was 15 and I got the taste for earning money, so I knew I didn’t want to go to university and be skint the whole time. My sister went to university and the sound of living away from home and getting into debt sounded too stressful.
I like to work and earn while I’m learning. The classroom environment is nice; it makes you feel refreshed and ready to get back to work instead of it being the only thing you do.
What kind of support have you had at LCB?
When our first assignment was due, I remember a lot of the class struggling and feeling confused. Our teacher noticed that and totally supported us, she answered every single message we sent her.
Our tutors don’t just give us exam criteria; they explain things and give us a checklist to work through. They really help us with our assignments and help us manage our deadlines. If you’re struggling with work, they always have time for you.
My advice to the next generation of women in the industry
When I first walked into college and saw lots of lads it was intimidating but because this course is something I knew I wanted to do it didn’t phase me as much.
This industry is obviously very male dominated, and I definitely want to be part of the generation that changes that. That’s why I wanted to get into it; I like to prove to people that women can do this too.
I think one of the main things that need to change is the perception of the industry, when people think of construction, they think of labourers, bricklayers and stuff like that. But there’s so much more to it and I think more women would be interested in this line of work if they knew that about it.
Abbey Iveson is a Level 4 Quantity Surveying Degree student at LCB (as part of her apprenticeship with JN Bentley)
