Apprentice
Apprenticeship£17k
Typical range £16,640–£25,000
Cylfaa · Tŵr Codi · Codi's Tower
AdeiladuConstruction
This is the construction home of Cylfaa. It is for employers taking construction into a classroom, schools planning careers sessions, and students who want to know what the jobs are really like.
Codi · Codi's name means "to build". She is the construction owl, and she built every structure in Cylfaa: the hall, the school, the bridges over the river.
Pack ready now
Rydych chi yma · You are here
Tŵr Codi in the village
Tŵr Codi is one of the ten homes of Cylfaa. Each home is a sector of Welsh work, with its own pack and its own skills gap to close.
- Tŵr Codi Construction
- Melin Ynni Green Energy
- Gweithdy Lunio Manufacturing
- Tŵr Fflach Digital
- Fferm Arad Agriculture & Food
- Glan Atom Nuclear
- Neuadd Mentro Enterprise
- Gardd Lliw Inclusion & Green Skills
- Canolfan Iechyd Health, Care & Safety
- Y Salon Hair, Beauty & Wellbeing
- Cae'r Her Cylfaa Challenge
The skills gap
The gap Codi is closing
Current figures for Wales, and North Wales where they exist. Every number links to where it came from.
110,000people work in construction in Wales
More
CITB counted 109,980 in 2025, rising to about 110,840 by 2030. Welsh construction output was worth £7.6bn in 2025.
Source: CITB Construction Workforce Outlook 2026–2030, June 2026
6,200extra workers Wales needs by 2030
More
That's 1,240 a year on top of normal turnover. Top needs: technical staff, managers, plumbers and heating, carpenters, surveyors.
Source: CITB Construction Workforce Outlook 2026–2030, June 2026
57,000+retrofit workers short within 10 years
More
A 2026 Welsh Government study found today's workforce would meet only 25% of home retrofit demand in 10 years' time.
Where employers are short
- Not enough new workers to replace those leaving
Wales needs 1,240 extra construction workers a year to 2030, partly because too many experienced workers are retiring or leaving the industry.
Source: CITB Construction Workforce Outlook 2026–2030, June 2026
- Retrofit workforce far too small for net zero
A 2026 study for the Welsh Government found today's workforce would meet only 25% of home retrofit demand in 10 years, a shortfall of about 57,000.
- Too few electrical apprentices
Wales needs at least 700 new electrical apprentices a year, but only 435 started training last year.
Source: ECA, Mar 2026
- Shortage of accredited retrofit staff
Social landlords say a lack of trained, accredited staff (TrustMark, PAS 2035) is holding back WHQS 2023 and retrofit work.
Source: Welsh Government, Mar 2026
- Skilled trades in short supply
CITB warns of significant shortages across trades. New Level 2 apprenticeships in bricklaying, site carpentry and scaffolding are being introduced.
Source: Business News Wales, Jun 2026
Jobs and pay
What the jobs pay
Six real roles, from a first apprenticeship to a degree route. Salaries are typical yearly pay, with the usual range.
Bricklayer
Entry Level£35k
Typical range £25,000–£45,000
How to get in
Heat Pump Eng.
Green Role£35k
Typical range £24,000–£46,000
How to get in
BIM Technologist
Digital Role£38k
Typical range £25,000–£50,000
How to get in
Surveyor (QS)
Degree Route£48k
Typical range £26,000–£70,000
How to get in
Civil Engineer
Degree Route£46k
Typical range £29,000–£63,000
How to get in
Welsh pay figures are used where they exist. Cards marked UK-wide or England use national figures because no Welsh breakdown was found. Apprentice pay uses the UK apprentice minimum wage from April 2026 unless an employer's own rate is shown.
Through every Byd
Green and digital in construction
Green and digital skills are changing every job in Wales, so every pack has a slide for each, written for this Byd.
Lliw's green path
Building Wales's Low-Carbon Homes.
Read more
Wales must hit net zero by 2050. Old homes leak heat, so builders insulate, fit solar and heat pumps, and build new homes that are cheap to run.
- 230ksocial homes to upgrade by 2034
WHQS 2023 asks landlords to make homes warmer and affordable to heat, with full compliance by 31 March 2034.
Source: Welsh Government, Oct 2023
- £107mretrofit fund for social homes
The Optimised Retrofit Programme has £106.75m in 2026–27. At Parc Penrhiw, Ammanford, some bills were cut by half.
- 20,000new social homes by March 2030
New Welsh Government target, set July 2026. Every home counted must meet energy efficiency standards.
Source: Wrexham.com, Jul 2026
Fflach's digital spark
Builders Now Work in 3D.
Read more
Modern sites run on tablets, 3D models and drones. If you like computers, gaming or design, construction needs your digital skills as much as your hands.
- BIM 3D models
Building Information Modelling puts a whole building into one shared 3D model, so teams spot clashes before anything is built.
- Drone site surveys
Drones map sites, check roofs and track progress from the air, so nobody has to climb up just to take a look.
- Digital twins
A live digital copy of a building or road, fed by sensors, shows how it is performing and when it needs repairs.
- Factory-built homes (MMC)
Modern methods of construction make frames in factories. ClwydAlyn's Glasdir homes in Ruthin use timber frames made at HMP Berwyn.
Gemau Cylfaa · The Cylfaa Games
Play in Tŵr Codi
Free games for students, families and classes. Presenters: they make a good last five minutes.
Job ExplorerFlip Codi's job cards in Tŵr Codi: what the jobs pay and how to get in.Which Owl Are You?Eight questions. Find out which home in Cylfaa is yours.Codi's card sort and quizSort Codi's construction jobs and test what you know.
All the Cylfaa games
Routes in
Four ways in
Real courses and schemes at North Wales colleges, universities and employers.
Apprenticeship
Wynne Construction trains joinery apprentices with Grŵp Llandrillo Menai at Rhos-on-Sea. Jones Bros, Ruthin, has hired 100+ apprentices since 2022, from plant fitters up.
College
Coleg Cambria (Wrexham and Deeside) teaches bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing and electrical. GLLM teaches the trades, plus heat pump and solar courses at Tŷ Gwyrddfai.
University Degree
Wrexham University offers BSc Quantity Surveying, Construction Management, Building Surveying and Architectural Design Technology. GLLM offers FdEng Civil Engineering.
Higher / Degree Apprenticeship
Wrexham University and Coleg Cambria run fully funded degree apprenticeships in civil engineering, QS, building surveying and construction management. Jones Bros uses them.
Employers in this Byd
- Wynne ConstructionBodelwyddan, Denbighshire
- AnwylEwloe, Flintshire
- Jones Bros Civil EngineeringRuthin, Denbighshire
- ClwydAlynSt Asaph, Denbighshire
- Adra (Trwsio)Penygroes, Gwynedd
- Williams Homes (Bala)Bala, Gwynedd
- Great British Energy – NuclearWylfa, Ynys Môn
The pack · for employers
Everything you need to walk into a classroom with Codi.
Owl Build is ready now. Pick it up, add your logo and your people if you want to, and walk in.
What's in the pack
- The full deck with speaker notes · scripted, timed and ready to present
- A clean deck · the same slides without notes, for the screen
- A 25-minute version · for a tight assembly slot or form time
- Printables · role cards, myth busters, guess the salary, and activity sheets for Explorer (Years 7 to 8), Investigator (Years 9 to 10) and Strategist (Years 11 to 12)
- A run sheet and a feedback form · so you know what happens when, and the school can tell you how it went
Built for Welsh classrooms. Mapped to Curriculum for Wales and the Four Purposes, with Gatsby Benchmarks evidenced. Bilingual, Welsh and English. Neurodiverse-friendly by design. From September 2026, careers and work-related experiences are a legal requirement under Curriculum for Wales.
Log each session in Owl Impact® and it becomes verified social value evidence.
Get the pack
Tell us a little about you and we'll be in touch within 2 working days to get you set up.
Cae'r Her · The Cylfaa Challenge: young people solve Wales's skills gaps themselves, and the winning idea gets funded and built for real.
Bring the Challenge to your schoolFor students and parents
Which Byd are you?
Construction careers, what they pay, quizzes and the card sort. All in Codi's world.
Enter Codi's worldFind your Byd
Byd is Welsh for "world". Every home in Cylfaa is a Byd: a world of work. Join your school's team for the Cylfaa Challenge and send your Gofyn, your ask, to the Cylfaa panel.
Sources
Where the figures come from
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 2026.
See all sources
- CITB Construction Workforce Outlook 2026–2030: Wales · Jun 2026
- Welsh Government / Cebr: Assessing workforce requirements for home retrofitting in Wales · 11 Mar 2026
- Inside Housing: Welsh retrofit workforce to meet 25% of demand in next decade · Apr 2026
- ECA: Welsh Government retrofit report confirms major electrical skills shortage · 23 Mar 2026
- Welsh Government: Evaluation of WHQS 2023 and Optimised Retrofit Programme · 26 Mar 2026
- Welsh Government: WHQS 2023 announced (230,000 social homes) · 24 Oct 2023
- Welsh Government written statement: warmer and more energy efficient homes (ORP £106.75m) · 16 Jul 2026
- Welsh Government: £17 million boost for home energy upgrades · 20 Jul 2026
- Wrexham.com: 20,000 more social homes in Wales by 2030 · 18 Jul 2026
- GOV.UK: UK SMR programme at Wylfa hitting target for British contracts · 24 Jun 2026
- Business Wales: £1bn North East Wales Investment Zone makes significant progress · 24 Feb 2025
- Business News Wales: Construction needs sustained focus on recruitment and training · 17 Jun 2026
- Business News Wales: Jones Bros reaffirms commitment to apprenticeships in North Wales · 13 Feb 2026
- Wynne Construction: Apprenticeship Week Wales 2026 apprentice focus · 10 Feb 2026
- Business News Wales: North Wales apprentices build successful careers with Anwyl · 8 Feb 2024
- ClwydAlyn: Cabinet Secretary visits retrofit and new build projects · 17 Dec 2024
- Bangor University: Tŷ Gwyrddfai decarbonisation hub opens in Penygroes · 15 Nov 2024
- Coleg Cambria: Construction and building (16–18) · accessed Oct 2026
- Grŵp Llandrillo Menai: Construction and the Built Environment · accessed Oct 2026
- Wrexham University: Undergraduate courses · accessed Oct 2026
- Wrexham.com: Wales's first fully funded construction degree apprenticeships launched · 14 Jul 2024
- Companies House: Williams Homes (Bala) Limited (active) · accessed Oct 2026
- GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage rates (April 2026) · Apr 2026
- National Careers Service job profiles (bricklayer, carpenter, electrician, plumber, heat pump engineer, scaffolder, domestic energy assessor, construction site supervisor, architectural technologist, quantity surveyor, civil engineer, architect) · accessed Oct 2026