Royal Holloway is part of a group of colleges and universities who have initiated the ground-breaking project, Innovation South Virtual Campus (ISVC), to offer a range of free online courses to help employers fill digital skills gaps in their businesses for free.
The project aims to transform access to vital work-focused training such as cyber security and digital skills across the Enterprise M3 region of west Surrey and Hampshire.
The group, including Royal Holloway, Sparsholt College and BCoT, working with colleagues from East Surrey College and University of Chichester has developed an online platform to deliver blended vocational online learning to employees.
This ‘virtual campus’ offers a skills-focused range of short programmes, giving individuals the opportunity to learn a new skill and become an expert in a specific field without the need to take a whole qualification at every level. The range of short courses has been chosen based on research that has highlighted digital skills in businesses that may be missing or are highly sought after. This covers key areas such as digital marketing, competitor analysis, and IT skills including software development and cyber security. Varying levels of each course are offered to suit each learner’s current skillset and experience.
Professor Ken Badcock, Senior Vice-Principal (Academic Strategy, Partnerships and Resources) at Royal Holloway, said:
“The relationship with our wider community is important to us and we are continuing build on our relationships with local businesses to support employability development. This partnership of colleges and universities across the region will help local employers, at a particularly difficult time for everyone, to fill their digital skills gaps for free.”
Funded by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Enterprise M3 in collaboration with regional colleges and universities, ISVC’s skills-focused, bite-sized range of programmes have been designed to upskill and re-skill employees in businesses big and small - all without a cost to them or their employees. Employees can create an account, browse the range of courses on offer and be on their way to a whole new world of learning: http://isl.skillset.co.uk
