Gloucestershire's 'digital skills gap' bridged by courses

Denisa and Fraser are data science students at the University of Gloucestershire

Courses in cyber, IT and AI are helping to address Gloucestershire's digital skills shortage.

There are calls for more people to train in those areas to keep up with a "rapidly changing need".

Gloucestershire is home to the largest cluster of cyber businesses outside of London.

It is hoped degrees and apprenticeships offered by the University of Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire College will "fill the gap".

Matt Tudge, who is running the Local Skills Improvement Plan for Gloucestershire, said: "There's always been this core need for digital skills.

"Things like AI are rapidly changing the things that people need to do. For example, we know there are large financial firms who are crying out for cyber security professionals.

"The sector is really important to Gloucestershire so we really need people here to understand it."

The University of Gloucestershire has received funding from regulator Office for Students to offer scholarships in AI and data science to under-represented groups.

It is hoped the funding will help provide a larger pool of highly-skilled graduates to address the gap.

Zainab Loukil, academic course lead for the university's MSc in Data Science, said: "We know there are different areas causing the skills gap. Students are not in the industry because they are not represented here.

"The scholarship we are offering is a big help to students who are not able to cover such a cost. Having something like this in Gloucestershire will help improve accessibility into these opportunities."

Mark Higgins and Mikela Lowthian teach apprenticeships in IT, cyber and digital at Gloucestershire College

Denisa Golkiewiczova and Fraser Freeman-Jones are studying the MSc course. Denisa said she probably would not have studied it without the scholarship.

"I initially wanted to be an intelligence analyst but now I want to go into software engineering," she said.

"My end goal is to work at GCHQ."

Gloucestershire College offers apprenticeships in IT, cyber and tech.

Mark Higgins, senior assessor trainer in cyber, said: "We have some very big employers, we also have GCHQ and we've got the Golden Valley Cyber Park being developed.

"We're definitely seen as being the centre of the British universe in cyber skills. We have no problem attracting people onto the course and attracting employers too."