| e-skills UK | |
|---|---|
| Formation | April 1, 2003 |
| Type | Sector skills council |
| Legal status | Not-for-profit company limited by guarantee |
| Purpose/focus | IT training and participation in the UK |
| Location | 1 Castle Lane, Westminster, SW1E 6DR |
| Region served | UK |
| Chief Executive | Karen Price OBE |
| Parent organization | UK Commission for Employment and Skills |
| Affiliations | National Skills Academy for IT, Skills for Business |
| Website | e-skills UK |
e-skills UK is the UK's sector skills council for the IT industry, technically described as Business and Information Technology.
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The UK IT industry is around 5% of the UK economy, and covers 5.7% of the working population (IT and telecoms). 860,000 work in the IT industry itself and around 680,000 work in IT-related work.
e-skills UK existed in name before 2003 as one of the 73 National Training Organisations (NTO). The funding for these schemes was increased, and the numbers of the organisations reduced to 23 when they became Sector Skills Councils in April 2003. e-skills UK was one of the first two to be formed. SSCs were started by the Sector Skills Development Agency, with the chief executive being Christopher Duff. e-skills UK was initially given a five year licence to be the SSC for the IT and Telecoms industry.
In March 2005 it was one of four SSCs to publish their first Sector Skills Agreement (SSA), along with SEMTA, Skillset and ConstructionSkills. These agreements nailed down what they hoped to realistically achieve.
Computer Clubs for Girls had begun in South East England in 2002 as a pilot scheme in 280 schools, funded by SEEDA with £2.8 million. It was designed to educate girls about the potential of technology. It was launched nationwide on 14 June 2005 for girls aged 10-14 at 3,600 schools, and cost £8.5 million, and run by Melody Hermon. By 2006 around 1,000 schools had registered. By 2006 58,000 girls were in the scheme.
In the 2006 Birthday Honours Karen Price received an OBE.
In August 2009 it developed a £5.6 million scheme with the Open University called Vital to keep school teachers up-to-speed with technology, which was launched at the annual BETT trade show.[1] It was a form of continuing professional development (CPD).
In February 2010 it joined forces with Google and BT to form the Getting British Business Online project (GBBO).[2]
It addresses the skills shortages in the UK IT industry, and whether the industry draws from the full cross-section of British society, and not just certain demographics. By 2004 20% of workers in the industry were female, with only 12% of software designers being female, out of the 600,000 workers in the industry. By 2006 women accounted for 16% of the workforce, with even fewer in the higher-bracket jobs. By 2010, only 15% of IT graduates, and 9% of computer science students, were female.
It publishes the e-skills Bulletin. It has also published the Regional Gap-UK report, to target skills gaps. The Technology Insights report details which skills are most needed.
It devised the e-skills passport and IT User Qualification (ITQ) qualifications, its National Occupational Standards.
In March it hosts the e-skills UK Awards.
It is based in central London.