Each year, The Open University (OU) releases its Business Barometer report, which investigates the extent and nature of the skills shortage and the effect it is having on organisations of all sizes. The 2018 report found that skills shortages cost Scottish businesses £352 million and 30% of Scottish businesses struggled to recruit due to a shortage of IT skills in applicants.

The OU has a strong heritage and pedigree in work-based learning. It works with employers to understand their business challenges and provide outstanding learning and development solutions.

Graduate Apprenticeships are a key part of the OU’s mission in Scotland and are helping to fill skills gaps by upskilling and reskilling employees to future-proof success for Scottish employers. IT and Digital Graduate Apprenticeships are work-based higher education programmes available to new and existing employees aged 16 years old and above who live and work in Scotland. They are delivered flexibly to fit around needs of employers. The programmes are scalable for consistent training across multiple sites Scotland-wide and provide high quality work-based learning, to allow apprentices to make an immediate impact in the workplace.

“The skills of the future, in terms of the digital economy, mean that we are going to need people who can code, we’re going to need people who are experts in cyber security, and we’re going to need people who can manage that business,” said Marie Hendry, Depute Director, The Open University in Scotland.

“Businesses need their employees to be digitally skilled and Graduate Apprenticeships really solve that problem for them, because they enable apprentices to earn while they learn.

“But uniquely, with The Open University, they don’t have to travel to a campus to do it because our Graduate Apprenticeships are wholly online. So it means that apprentices can take the learning and employ it in the workplace immediately.”

Graduate Apprenticeships on offer include both a BSc (Honours) and MSc in Cyber Security and BSc (Honours) qualifications in IT: Software Development and IT: Management for Business. Places are fully funded by Skills Development Scotland.

Janet Hughes Staff Tutor (Computing and Communications) at the OU said: “An apprentice can not only become a graduate, but could also be recognised as a Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP). In other words, recognised as a working professional as well as a graduate.”

The OU works closely with employers to ensure its Apprenticeships are providing effective learning to help apprentices make an immediate impact in the workplace. The Scottish Ambulance Service has been involved in the development of the OU’s Graduate Apprenticeships programmes.

John Baker, ICT General Manager, Scottish Ambulance Service said: “This has given us first-hand experience of the OU’s proactive approach to employer engagement in relation to curriculum design and development, and their commitment to creating staff learning and development opportunities that meet the needs of industry, which are also responsive to skills shortages and align with Scottish Government priorities.”

For more information on Open University Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland please visit: openuniversity.co.uk/skills-gap-scotland

The Open University’s 2019 Bridging the Digital Divide report highlights the extent of digital skills gaps and the impact they are having on organisations and their employees.

open.ac.uk/business/apprenticeships/blog/bridging-the-digital-divide