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For Immediate Release
Microsoft and City & Guilds join forces to tackle I.T. skills crisis
A partnership aimed at tackling skills shortages and improving training standards in the IT industry was announced today (29 May 2002) between Microsoft and the UK's leading awarding body, City & Guilds. The City & Guilds' e-Quals course will now fully prepare IT trainees to immediately sit for a Microsoft Office User Specialist examination without additional Microsoft Office User Specialist training. The agreement will open up access to IT qualifications, encourage more candidates to enter the industry, and broaden the skills base.
The partnership will help address the current skills gap among the UK's 1.25 million IT professionals. According to a recent report by the industry's National Training Organisation, e-skills UK, around 9,000 IT businesses are experiencing difficulty in filling positions. 17,000 firms also admitted that around half of their IT professionals were less than fully proficient in their role.
As City & Guilds' e-Quals qualifications are the only IT courses to qualify for Learning and Skills Council funding for all units under the National Qualification Framework, courses are more accessible to a wider range of candidates. e-Quals level 2 and 3 have been assessed to ensure they cover the appropriate Microsoft Office User Specialist modules, therefore candidates sitting the Microsoft Office User Specialist qualification require no additional training.
The result of the agreement will be that more candidates enter the industry with both the latest, highly respected e-Quals qualification, and the widely recognised Microsoft Office User Specialist standard. Together the qualifications will widen new candidates' range of skills - including both technical and communication skills.
Commenting on the new agreement, Neil Holloway, Managing Director of Microsoft Ltd, said: "Today's partnership between Microsoft and City & Guilds signifies the culmination of a two year development programme between the two organisations. This is a major step change enabling access to 'fit for purpose' qualifications that meet the needs of both Industry and Education, directly, addressing the UK IT skills crisis."
Chris Humphries, Director General of City & Guilds, said: "Skills shortages are a significant problem for the IT industry. It is our objective to provide qualifications that meet the needs of industry and the needs of candidates — joining forces with Microsoft is an effective way of achieving this goal."
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Media enquiries:
City & Guilds: Louise Ockenden/Colin Hallmark
020 7861 3030
lockenden@goodrelations.co.uk
Microsoft: Sarah-Jane Gray - Education PR/ Microsoft Press Centre
Tel: 020 7344 1246/0870 2077377
and 07740 038 928 (out of hours)
sarah-jane.gray@edelman.com
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