Digital degree apprenticeships

We have a growing track record of working in the digital sector involving co-design, research and knowledge transfer with a wide range of organisations. Our digital degree apprenticeship programmes have been built on the needs of industry and growing demand for digital skills. For example, ‘The London Local Skills Improvement Plan’ (2023) states:

‘Employer demand for digital skills, is particularly high in London. According to a 2021 survey conducted by the LCCI, upskilling digital skills is the main priority for workforce development. A recent survey by the Learning & Work Institute found over half (56%) of respondents felt that their business would need more advanced digital skills over the next two to five years.’

In 2020, the Digital Sector contributed £151 billion to the UK economy and accounted for 9% of the national workforce. In 2022, there were nearly 1.9 million people working in the digital sector. By 2025 the UK Government expect another 678,000 jobs to be created with employees with digital skills.

The region with the highest number of jobs will be London, with over 261,000 workplaces.

Research undertaken by the Local Government Association has indicated that London is a driver of digital skills demand.

• Tech employment in London increased by almost double the rate for England as a whole (40 per cent versus 23 per cent)” (LGA, 2021). This research also points to a continuing pattern of high growth in demand for digital skills in the London region.
• London is already home to 321,000 tech specialists (24 per cent of the England total) and this number is set to increase by approximately 60 per cent (193,000) over the 2020-2050 period to over half a million (514,000) in total. (LGA, 2021)
• Over the next thirty years (2020-50) we estimate the number of tech specialists in England will almost double (an increase of approximately 84 per cent) from around 1.4 million in 2020 to 2.5 million in 2050 as digital transformation continues apace and associated demand for associated labour and skills increases. Over the same time period, we anticipate much more modest growth in the size of the wider workforce which will grow by around 11 per cent over the period.

Meeting employer needs

Our Digital degree apprenticeship programmes have been specifically designed to mee this employer need. We have proactively sought the views of employer about how we can better meet their needs and used this information to inform the development and delivery of our programmes.

Our Digital degree apprenticeship programmes

• Digital User Experience Professional
• Creative Digital Design Professional
• Cyber Security Technical Professional
• Digital and Technology Solutions Professional
• Data Scientist
• Digital Marketer

Professional staff with research expertise

Apprentices get expert support from our teaching staff with research expertise in digital technology. Tutors also share their professional experience and industry knowledge in their teaching to help apprentices to reflect on their real-world problems.

We have been successful in attracting funding from both national and international agencies, in addition to working with companies at home and abroad. We have particular strengths in:

• Visual Analytics
• Foundations of Computing
• Software Systems Engineering
• Computational Simulation
• Intelligent Networks
• AI
• Visual and Digital imagery
• Gaming
• Creative Software
• Managing Creative Projects

We work closely with the London Digital Twin Research Centre to develop a digital twin for our robotic infrastructure used during the COVID lockdown and is now used to increase capacity and accessibility.

The Computer Science teaching team won the Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) for their work on innovative online assessment tool, flexible learning spaces and industry talks.

Industry-leading equipment

We are equipped with professional standard equipment in electronics, mechatronics, robotics and networking solutions and the latest software. Apprentices work on practical projects that develop their advanced skills from day one of the course.

Dedicated labs throughout the campus are equipped with the latest technology from Cisco and National Instruments. Our labs feature the same cutting-edge equipment and software used by the industry, and our experienced academics will show you how to get the best from them.