IT professionals tend to be better qualified than the general workforce. 59% of IT professionals have attained a degree or equivalent higher education qualification, compared to 30% in the UK workforce. Of the rest of the IT workforce: 20% have a GCE A level or equivalent; 13% have GSCEs grades A-C or equivalent; 7% have other qualifications; and 1% has no academic qualifications.

Of the IT and Telecoms staff working full-time who have attained an ICT related degree, 10% are female and 12% are male. Men working full-time in the sector are less-educated than women.

Comparable to the national average, 15% of the IT workforce is working towards or studying for a qualification.

Employers expect people leaving tertiary education to have reached Intermediate-Advanced level in all aspects of IT user skills. Those leaving higher education are expected to have advanced user skills and expertise in particular areas.

Source: e-skills Bulletin 2005 (issue 14 – Q3) and e-skills UK 2005b

For information on the qualifications and National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) go to the qualifications and training section of the e-skills UK website.

Source: e-skills Bulletin 2005 (issue 14 - Q3).  Based on Labour Force Survey (2005, quarter 2).

The further education (FE) sector provides skills development courses, including partial courses and short training courses, for existing and prospective IT professionals.  In 2005, around 124,000 IT professional qualifications were completed in England.

Around a third of entrants to FE IT professional type funded programmes undertake a Level 3 or higher course.  Higher level skills, widely required for IT professionals are being offered by FE colleges with the introduction of New Technology Institutes and Foundation Degrees.

Source: e-skills UK 2006 (based on data from the Learning and Skills Council, England only)

For future trends in further education see:

Higher education (HE) institutions offering IT qualifications are geographically dispersed.

Information/computer systems engineering has become more popular since 2001.  Whereas, acceptances on all other IT related courses have declined since 2001.  Acceptances to IT higher education courses have declined from its peak in 2001 of 29,014.  11.4% of all HE acceptances in 2003 were for IT related subjects.  Only 1 in 4 IT HE acceptances is for women.  This reflects the IT workforce where only 1 in 5 IT professionals are female.

Just over 18,240 students graduated with computer science degrees in 2003.  76% of these graduates were male.  55% of IT graduates did not enter the IT workforce within 6 months of graduation.  IT employers still recruit more non-IT graduates than IT (computer science) graduates.

Source: e-skills UK 2005b

For future trends in higher education see:

The IT industry is most likely to fund and arrange training for its staff; this also includes training in new technologies. On average the IT industry spends £668 on training per employee per annum. 61% of employers organise their own training which primarily comprises training in new technologies (twice as likely as employers in other sectors). The majority of employers see training as a way of addressing skill shortages and skill gaps.

The barriers to training identified by employers include:

• lack of cover for training
• unwillingness of staff
• high turnover of staff
• lack of time, funding and accessible, suitable courses

Apprenticeships are available across the sector. There is also a “fast-track” apprenticeship which leads to a full Honours degree via a Foundation Degree. This work-based training and development programme demands high standards and aims to raise the skill levels of people available to the ICT industry to degree level.

Apprenticeships are aimed at students with A Levels or equivalent educational attainment (such as GNVQ, Baccalaureate or relevant Level 3 IT related technical qualification). Advanced apprenticeships are available to those wishing to progress further in the sector, including both employees with A Levels or equivalent and employees who have worked in the industry for a number of years and demonstrated that they have a reasonable expectation of achieving the stated outcomes.

An average starting salary for an apprentice is around £10,000 per annum, although this varies widely. Many employers give apprentices 6 monthly increases and further increases upon completion of their apprenticeships

Source: e-skills UK website 2006, e-skills UK 2005b and Prospects website 2005

For more information on New Technology Institutes and Foundation Degrees see the e-skills UK website.

• The UK needs to build a new IT skills development infrastructure through collaboration between government, educators, employers and employees.
• New delivery methods that integrate work-based, vocational and academic learning need to be development.
• There needs to be consideration of the difficulties of releasing employees from work (especially in small companies).
• Private training can not deliver the necessary IT skills development needed in the UK.
• Skills development and training courses must take account of those individuals who are at risk of exclusion.
• Employers and employees must share responsibility for skills development.

Source: e-skills UK 2005b