Industry backs new IT skills training

A new Masters-level IT development programme is being championed by industry leaders to help battle offshoring and skills shortages.

Led by e-skills UK, the new qualification is also supported by universities and companies, including BT, Carphone Warehouse, Cisco, Vodafone and others - a range of organisations which employ a quarter of IT professionals in the UK.

Karen Price, chief executive of e-skills UK, said: "Many traditional entry-level IT roles are disappearing from the UK due to offshoring and technological advances. At the same time, increasing numbers of IT professional roles in the UK are becoming focused on highly skilled, customer-focused areas such as project management, business analysis and solutions design."

She added: "This means that new IT professionals must be able to progress rapidly to demanding roles without access to the kind of jobs that would help them to build their skills and experience: they have to climb a career ladder with the bottom rungs missing. Our new programme will help to bridge this gap, enabling graduate recruits to build a strong foundation of competence in the early years of their career. It will make a real difference to new IT professionals and their employers."

There will be varying levels of qualifications on offer, such as certificates or diplomas, depending on the modules completed. The programme will also let students work toward a full Masters degree, e-skills said.

It will be piloted from September 2008 at Cranfield University, Lancaster University Management School, Manchester Business School, the Open University and University College London.

The programme will cover technical, business, project management and communication skills, among others.

Linda A Macaulay, Professor of System Design at Manchester Business School, said: "The programme's innovative structure and delivery will take a realistic and practical approach to IT professional development, maximising learning opportunities while minimising the time spent away from work. It will acknowledge that all learning counts, whether university-based, work-based or developed through prior experience."

The programme is being developed with funding from the Higher Education Funding Council, but employers are expected to pay for students to attend.

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