The building union Ucatt have expressed fears that training standards on work for the London Olympics will fall below government recommendations.

90% of the training for the workers is at to NVQ Level 2, while the UK governments had recommended for more apprenticeships to be at NVQ Level 3, the equivalent of two A-Levels.

Around 1,000 young people will be trained on the site although those at Level 2 may have to take lower paid jobs after the games and paid as little as £80 a week, according to the union.

A higher qualified apprentice could expect to be paid at least £238 a week after two years of study.

Alan Ritchie, Ucatt general secretary, said: “The realisation that the Olympic Authority tried to sneak out the fact that the vast majority will only be offered to NVQ Level 2 is vastly disappointing. This country is crying out for young skilled construction workers. The Olympics were a golden opportunity to create a skills legacy. That opportunity is in danger of being missed.”

ODA Chairman John Armitt said: “The areas around the Olympic site in east London suffer from high levels of unemployment and the 2012 Games can act as a catalyst to help change this. That is why our strategy is focused on getting people onto the first level of training and into work.

“In addition, our forecasts show that the skill requirements for the project will mainly be in civil engineering and construction skills rather than the traditional building craft skills, though we will be encouraging employers to offer training at all NVQ levels.”

Source: Building.co.uk