COMPUTER buffs are being offered a high speed route into a career thanks to a new college course delivered by industry experts.
Senior lecturers in computing Mark Whitfield and Kye Taylor have just joined Darlington College after piloting digital software development and cyber security programmes for the past five years in colleges across the region.
They will now deliver T-Levels in both areas which will also allow students to benefit from a 45-day work placement that could help them make vital industry contacts for a lucrative career.
The new courses – T-Level digital software development and T-Level security and support – are timed perfectly as Darlington College develops plans to build a multi-million pound STEM centre on its Central Park campus, scheduled to open in 2029.
“The STEM centre is a really exciting prospect and will give us the opportunity to have bespoke learning areas,” said Mark, of Middlesbrough. “We will be able to build something that is specific to students’ needs now and in the future.
“The facility and the courses will be something that will get our students excited about computing and we hope to go into schools to do sessions that will regenerate their interest in the subject.”
The two-year courses comprise assessed work and exams, along with 45 days’ meaningful work experience.
Kye said: “We will find students getting good work offers because they get to know the industry’s systems. They are not there to just make the tea and they will start proper projects and see them right through to the end.
“It will be like the the longest interview they will ever do, will be a great experience for the employer and an opportunity for the students to showcase their skills.”
In the past, projects have included creating a banking app, hotel management IT and greenhouse emissions and fitness trackers.
In the second year, students will spend at least 80 hours on this occupational specialism as a final major project that could be tested on friends and family.
Both lecturers said computing was a vast and ever-changing industry with excellent prospects for students.
“More than 90 per cent of all jobs need some form of IT and this is only going to grow,” said Kye, of Middlesbrough.
Mark added: “We are also building AI into the course as an accepted tool, as an ethical assistant, which will teach students how to use it responsibly.”
Careers could include gaming, the NHS, digital forensics, testing software and hardware, cyber security and media, with starting salaries from £30,000 a year.
Prospective T-Level students will need four GCSEs at grade 4 or above, including English and maths. For the programming course, maths must be at grade 5 or above. For the cyber security pathway, maths must be at grade 4 or above. A GCSE in computing is not required for either pathway.
For more information on opportunities at Darlington College visit www.darlington.ac.uk.