Apprenticeships an important route to the IT profession

By BCS
February 7th 2012

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is supporting Apprenticeship Week as it believes that IT apprenticeships are key in encouraging people to join the IT profession.

With the IT industry set to grow at three times the national average this year, it is paramount there are a number of routes into the profession making it more accessible to potential candidates.

David Clarke, MBE, CEO, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, said: 'The IT profession is constantly growing and for many organisations, being able to recruit the right people with the necessary skills has proved a challenge. IT apprenticeships provide a very real and vital route into the profession that allows on-the-job training as well as a recognised qualification at the end.'

This week is Apprenticeship Week 2012, which encourages employers and individuals to consider the positives of apprenticeships. The work based nature of an apprenticeship scheme tends to show that the productivity of apprentices is relatively high, especially in the latter stages of the apprenticeship. More and more organisations are becoming involved in delivering IT apprenticeship programmes and helping to define what should be encompassed within the frameworks.

One such initiative, which is supported by the Institute, is the launch of the IT Services Charter for the employment of apprentices developed with Business in the Community (BITC). The charter has already been agreed to by a number of influential IT consulting and business services organisations, and will be signed on 9 February 2012.

As well as apprenticeships, there are a number of routes into the IT profession including computer science degrees and BCS Higher Education Qualifications.