QUB to host novel tech degree for apprentices
A TECHNOLOGY degree apprenticeship programme with no tuition fees and a salary is to be extended to Northern Ireland for the first time.
Queen’s University and business advisory firm PwC have said that the apprenticeship will help boost technology employment and achieve growth in financial services.
The programme will be available in just three universities in the UK — Queen’s, Birmingham and Leeds.
It is a fully-funded four-year technology degree apprenticeship which will take on 100 students a year.
Professor Ian Williams, dean of education for the faculty of engineering and physical sciences at Queen’s, said investment in talent was needed.
“Over two-thirds of UK CEOs say they’re having difficulty recruiting people with digital skills, a quarter of UK manufacturing businesses see skills shortages as inhibiting output, while a third of financial services undertakings are constrained by a lack of professional staff,” he explained.
“Technology is changing the world and, at Queen’s University, Belfast, through world class teaching and facilities, we are training up the next generation of graduates to ensure that Northern Ireland can develop to its full potential.
“This programme is an example of how new approaches to education is helping to meet demand.”
The programme will combine university and a degree with practical technology projects at PwC and a salary.
Fees are paid by the Department for the Economy. PwC NI chairman Paul Terrington said it wanted to dispel the myth that all tech talent had be trained in London.