Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, has shared his delight after the Institute of Technology in Milton Keynes was awarded nearly £1 million of funding to provide free study programmes for businesses.
The scheme, at the MK College-led Institute of Technology, will include courses such as Artificial Intelligence, Digitisation of Manufacturing, Digital Construction, Agricultural Robotics, and Cyber Security.
The courses will be a blend of classroom and remote online study, and will vary in length from 50 to 138 hours – giving more adults greater flexibility in how and when they learn, so they can fit it around their lives. Swindon and Wiltshire IoT, for instance, will offer five short 50 hour courses across eight weeks.
The programmes will be available to working adults aged 19 and over, with priority given to those employed locally to the IoT, in related industries such as digital or healthcare. The IoTs have worked in partnership with local employers to ensure courses address existing skills gaps, meaning employees from both large and SME businesses will be able to gain in demand new skills or retrain – so they can progress on to higher skilled, higher paid jobs in their area.
Ben Everitt, the Milton Keynes North MP, commented: "This is fantastic news for Milton Keynes - we know how high-tech our business sector is here in Milton Keynes and it's been wonderful to see how integrated the MK College-led Institute of Technology will be in what makes us so great as a city.
"In an ever changing world ensuring people can learn new skills at any age is absolutely vital so these new free courses will be a huge boost for local businesses.
Michelle Donelan, Minister for Further and Higher Education, said: "Making sure more people can train and develop at any stage of their life to secure high skilled, high paid jobs is at the heart of our plans.
"These fantastic new courses will open up more training alternatives for adults, address skills gaps in our economy and level up opportunities across the country.
"We are also investing up to £18 million to support over 100 further and higher education providers to expand the higher technical training on offer to their local communities."
Companies wishing to find out more can get in touch via [email protected]
