The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) has opened applications for its 2026 ACTIVE Cup project management competition following a revamp to its format.
The ECITB last month announced it had awarded the contract to deliver the competition to 20/20 Project Management Training for the next three years.
The training company will deliver its first modernised version of the popular competition from 16-18 November 2026 at Cranfield University, near Milton Keynes.
The industry-led skills body is inviting engineering construction industry (ECI) companies to register interest in submitting a team in the competition.
The immersive competition, which first started in 1994, gives teams experience of the whole project management process, managing a simulated project from concept through to completion.
Changes to ACTIVE Cup
The new format includes a virtual preparation day and a small amount of preparatory work to complete in advance of three face-to-face simulation days. These simulation days will now take place during the working week, rather than over a weekend.
The virtual preparation day for the 2026 competition will be on 3 November.
The content of the competition will also be brought up to date and reflect modern processes and practices in project management, with the new format designed as a realistic end-to-end ECI project simulation.
Andrew Hockey, Chief Executive of the ECITB, said: “The ACTIVE Cup has become an established date in the calendar over the last three decades and we are excited to get this new version up and running for ECI employers.
“The changes, made in consultation with industry, will make the event more accessible and better for the wellbeing of participants, ensuring people do not need to work into the evening.
“Spreading the face-to-face days over three days and running the virtual preparation day, which will go through the ACTIVE principles, will enable teams to hit the ground running, get time to network and have time to enjoy this hugely popular competition.”
Pictured: Andrew Hockey hands a trophy to a member of the Saipem team that won the silver runner-up award at the July 2025 ACTIVE Cup. Main: Members of the Wood team working on their project at the January 2025 event.
Project management skills
The ACTIVE Cup is part of the ECITB’s wider project management training programmes aimed at raising skill levels within the engineering construction industry.
The competition helps industry professionals strengthen their project delivery, leadership and collaboration skills in a realistic, high-pressure environment.
The teams of five include project management practitioners and project team members as well as engineers and support staff such as HR and accounts personnel who provide services to project teams.
The last competition in July 2025 was won by the team from T.EN E&C Limited, which provides engineering design services for the petrochemical industry.
Process engineer Taran Toor, a member of the winning team (pictured above), said: “It was intense, but in a good way. The simulation structure works really well, the timings make it intense, so we had to make decisions quickly.
“We learned that working cohesively as a team doesn’t mean doing everything together and having a consensus. Leadership means having the right people in the right places.
“Technical skills we learned were project management principles, but we also learned soft skills like teamworking and decision making.”
The ACTIVE Cup takes place three times a year – twice in England and one competition in Scotland.
Dates for the 2027 competitions have also now been confirmed, they are on:
- 3-5 February (virtual day, 20 January) at Cranfield University
- 2-4 March (virtual day 11 February) at Carnoustie Golf Hotel, north of Dundee.
