Partnership with Barhale Ltd

Partnership with Barhale Ltd create pathway for aspirant Civil Engineers

At Wolverhampton Grammar School, providing our students with unique opportunities for career development is amongst our key priorities. Our robust programme for Careers Education allows our students access to; university visits, workplace visits, industry insights, employer engagements and work experience opportunities. The strength of our careers education programme is credit to our employer partners who give generously to support our student community.

We are proud of our recently developed partnership with Barhale Ltd, which has opened opportunities for our aspiring Civil Engineers. Civil Engineering creates the infrastructure that shapes modern life, from roads and bridges, to water systems and buildings. Civil engineers design the essential structures that keep communities functioning safely and efficiently. Their work helps ensure public health, economic development, and environmental sustainability, making civil engineering vital to society’s progress and resilience. UK labour market information shows that there is shortage of skilled workers in Civil Engineering, a reason why it is important that schools are preparing students for this industry.

Barhale Ltd is a leading UK-based, privately owned Civil Engineering and infrastructure specialist company, founded in 1980 with it’s roots in tunnelling. With over 800- 1200 direct employees and regional offices across the country, the company delivers design, construction, and maintenance services in the water, transport, energy, and built-environment sectors. Known for its specialist capabilities in tunnelling and steel fabrication, Barhale operates on major frameworks and large-scale projects, often partnering with high-profile companies.

It has been an immense privilege for our students to learn about, and get to know this company. Colleagues from Barhale Ltd recently attended our annual Careers and Networking Fair in April 2025, where students from years 9 – 13 were able to gain knowledge of the company and it’s future opportunities. In addition, a group of aspiring Civil Engineers from years 9 and 10 attended a Barhale Ltd site visit to learn about their current work with Severn Trent. During their visit, the students were able to network with staff within various roles and had a detailed site tour, witnessing key construction works in action. Not only were our students getting an informative careers experience, they were able to apply their knowledge of science to a real-life setting.

Huge thanks to Gemma Banks at Barhale Ltd for making this opportunity come to life, and for supporting the students of Wolverhampton Grammar School.

 Providing our students with these industry insights is key to ensuring that, as a school, we are doing our best to prepare the future professionals that will fill the skills and employment gaps in the UK. We are grateful to our friends at Barhale Ltd for an experience that has no doubt inspired WGS’ future Civil Engineers MRS KAILEY, Head of CAREERS