Edinburgh | Glasgow, 23rd of February 2022 – CodeClan, Scotland’s national digital skills academy, and tigers, the Glasgow-based apprenticeship education provider, will collaborate to co-deliver an education and mentorship programme aimed at providing more young people with the skills and confidence to move into tech jobs.
The eight-week programme aimed at 16-24 year-olds in Glasgow will see participants develop their computer programming skills and personal development underpinned by a wellbeing programme, enabling young people to secure Modern Apprenticeships in IT and software development on completion.
With the number of school students studying Computer Science at an all-time low – latest statistics reveal that 9,873 pupils took the subject in 2020, with girls totalling just 1,895 – the collaboration between CodeClan and tigers aims to bridge the digital skills gap by supporting more young people around essential coding skills including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
In order to make the programme as inclusive as possible, there are no significant entry requirements to the course although eligibility criteria dictate that applicants are not currently in education or employment. The programme is funded through the Employability Fund managed by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) on behalf of the Scottish Government.
Following the eight-week programme, young people will be able to move into a Modern Apprenticeship with partner employers, with the opportunity to continue their development supported by tigers trained assesors and CodeClan’s selected digital skills courses.
Melinda Matthews-Clarkson, CEO, CodeClan, said: “Historically, CodeClan has worked to bridge Scotland’s digitals skills gap by re-skilling career changers, and we’re excited to expand our reach and work with young people in collaboration with tigers, to equip them with the skills needed to work in Scotland’s fast-growing technology sector.”
Matthews-Clarkson added: “We know it’s a critical time for our digital economy, there has been a lot of collective talk but now we need to execute. It’s so important, because it’s about equipping the future workforce and developing a competitive future economy in Scotland. If we don’t act now, we do so at our own peril.”
Jeremy Miles, Director of Operations at tigers, said: “This is a really exciting collaboration for tigers as we look to build on our success with supporting young people into tech roles through Modern Apprenticeships by working with an exceptional training provider. We are also very keen to work closely with CodeClan to tackle the gender imbalance that exists in the tech sector.
“We believe our whole person approach to education, combining the wellbeing of our learners with a vocational, employer led focus steeped in innovative practice will really compliment the CodeClan approach. We are deeply aligned in our desire to support young people into sustainable employment and look forward to seeing where we can go together.”
About CodeClan
CodeClan, Scotland’s national skills academy, is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2015 with a mission is to bridge the digital skills gap and develop a new generation of digital professionals in Scotland. CodeClan focuses on equipping students with industry-led training with a view to them securing employment. CodeClan has supported more than 2,000 people in gaining skills to transform their careers, working with more than 320 industry partners across Scotland’s commercial and public sectors.
About tigers
Tigers launched in the east end of Glasgow in 2001, with the aim to create opportunities for young people who had disengaged with education and were facing social and personal barriers to accessing employment. Over the years, tigers have developed their vision for a fair and inclusive world where equal opportunities exist for individual, families and communities. At the heart of this is a whole person approach to education, focusing on the wellbeing of its learners to provide a secure base from which to learn through their Relationship Led Practice. Tigers has educational academies across construction, early years, business and digital technologies underpinned by strong employer relationships to support a vocational approach.
