Female construction students at New College Lanarkshire are demolishing myths about the building trades just being jobs for the boys.

Five out of only six females currently on the College’s Construction Pre Apprentice course are in the top 15 students on the popular ‘taster’ course for a career in the industry - with Wishaw student Kait Finnan (19) coming tops of all the 90-plus trainees.

Kait has notched up an amazing 100 percent from all her tutors during the training programme which runs throughout the year and covers painting and decorating, plumbing, joinery, technical drawing, brick and block-laying and health & safety.

And just behind her in the top 15 are fellow students Antonia Collins, (18), from Holytown; Dainah Smith, (18) from Hamilton, Shannon Docherty (16) from Wishaw and Sophie McRobie (17) from Lanark.

Kait, a former pupil of Clyde Valley High School, said: “I really wasn’t expecting to be ‘top of the class’, I told the College I would be happy to be 40th or below. So it was a nice surprise when I heard I was ranked #1.

“I’ve had quite a bit to overcome personally since I dropped out of school at 15, so I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved in the past few years - especially since I started the course in January.

“I think I put 110 per cent into tasks, and have a good work ethic. I’m also fairly critical of myself, so I always look for ways to improve my standard of work. Perhaps the lecturers have noticed this, and that’s maybe helped with my ranking.

“It’s great that the other girls have done so well. Feminism is really important to me, and with so many of us doing so well I feel like we really are showing that women are just as capable as men, if not more.”

Kait chose construction as a career after dropping out of an HND Travel and Tourism course because she felt it wasn’t the right fit for her.

“I like to get my hands dirty and I thought this was the way I could do it. My family were fully behind me and I’ve no regrets.”

Painting and decorating is the favourite topic learned among all the girls including Kait, who said: “I find it relaxing.”

She added: “The lecturers are helpful and have years of experience, both on site and in the classroom.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time on the course, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is thinking about it.

“There might be parts of the course you don’t enjoy, but with such a variety of trades to learn you’re bound to find something you love.

“It would be great to see in the next few years that women aren’t just a fraction of the course intake, and instead that we take more spaces.”

Kait will be among the 60-plus students who are heading out for six week placement with firms and businesses at the beginning of May.

She’ll be working in the technical department of the Bothwell branch of international weather and water protection firm Seal Eco, where she will help write a proposal and study building design, along with a few site visits.

Martyn Campbell, curriculum and quality leader in construction, said: “Kait has done magnificently well to achieve this status in her own right but for a young woman to have done so in this sector is little bit more special.

“What’s also remarkable is that there are only six girls on the course – and five of them are in the top 15.

“They have shown the dedication to their work that is highly sought after by employers in this sector. Many of the employers we work with are actively trying to close the gender balance in the construction industry.

“These students have proved that females are more than capable and hopefully many more apply for the courses we are currently recruiting for.”