Help to ‘grow your digital staff’

The programme is also open to current employees seeking to sharpen their ICT skills and gain a full honours degree alongside their employment, while paying no student fees and earning a wage throughout.

Organisations can find out more at the launch of the digital degree apprenticeship programme at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Business School on Wednesday, January 21 at 4pm. It is one of eight universities selected nationally to deliver the new Degree Apprenticeship in Technology Solutions, announced last month by the government.

The government is providing two thirds of the funding for training the degree apprentices.

Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: “This is the latest example of government working in partnership with academia and industry to ensure that education and training routes are providing the skills which employers need now and in the future.”

Liz Gorb, Enterprise Fellow at MMU Centre for Enterprise, said: “The aim is to integrate academic learning at degree level with work-based training.

“Students earn while they learn and come away with skills that are directly relevant to employers, who have an opportunity to instil their own business culture and working style from an early stage.

“The core content of the degree includes technological support, software development, database management, security and business organisation, but the integrated learning approach of workplace training and assessment makes the course highly flexible to employer demands.”

Leading UK companies have already committed to take on digital apprentices, including: Accenture, BT, Capgemini, Ford and Fujitsu.