Government launches qualifications to meet UK digital marketing needs
Government have acknowledged the importance of digital marketing capability in driving the growth of the UK economy by announcing a partnership between brands such as Google and HP, to provide digital apprenticeships and short courses.
The industry-backed qualifications will provide pupils with digital skills for a range of jobs such as app developing, multimedia programming and web developing. These roles are expected to be in high demand over the next decade and help to fill up to a million vacancies, according to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
A number of brands are collaborating with universities to create the skills and jobs the digital industry needs including Fujitsu, IBM and Jaguar.
According to BIS, employers and universities involved will determine the course structure between themselves. Fujitsu told Marketing Week that they are working with two universities, including University of West England and Winchester University to train pupils in software development and data analytics.
E-skills is the Sector Skills Council for Business and Technology and is supporting the development of the partnership between brands and universities. E-skills director, Martin Harvey, previously told Marketing Week that there is a need for young people with core marketing skills, who also understand the tech skills necessary for the role, such as SEO and pay-per-click.
Short course qualifications will especially focus on digital marketing and give students the ability to create a web presence for small businesses.
Only 61% of SME businesses have a website and more than half are selling their goods online according to the BIS Small Business Survey in 2012. If the remaining businesses sold and marketed online, the annual turnover could be boosted to £18.8 billion per year, according to BIS.
Successful students will gain a level 3 certification which confirms an individual has the skills to create an online presence for a small company, and should give SMEs confidence that they will recruit someone with the correct skills.
The scheme will pilot short courses in web development in April 2015. Degree Apprenticeships will be launched in September 2015.
