100,000 students and recent graduates in the UK are set to receive critical digital skills training in the next five years as part of Bright Network’s new Technology Academy.

The overall aim is to create the largest free digital skills training programme for undergraduates and graduates in the UK.

Bright Network wants to deliver vital tech skills needed to secure a high value role within the UK’s tech sector – and responds to a digital skills gap that is currently costing employers £141bn a year.

Students and recent graduates will benefit from free software training, including coding languages such as Python3. Over the next five years, 1,000s of graduates will enrol in a free instructor-led 12-week Full Stack Web Development boot camp, with the option of securing a no-obligation 3-month placement at a top company, and potentially, a permanent role.

With the latest unemployment statistics revealing employment among 16-24 years olds is at a record low, Bright Network’s Technology Academy aims to provide young people across the country with access to the essential digital skills to support their career opportunities – and responds to research published today by Bright Network which finds three quarters (72%) of students feel they do not have the required digital skills for the world of work.

The research also finds a further three quarters (71%) of the UK’s Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) graduates are hopeful of securing a job in the UK’s £184bn tech sector.

Despite the high number of STEM graduates eyeing a role in the sector, which employs more than a fifth of the workforce in the UK’s biggest cities, 2 in 5 (44%) STEM graduates do not feel prepared to enter the working world and a further 2 in 5 (39%) feel that a lack of previous experience will be their primary barrier to accessing jobs in the sector.

James Uffindell, Founder & CEO of Bright Network, said: “Our Technology Academy provides a solution to any graduate looking to secure employment, at a time in which we know the jobs market has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. We provide this training at no cost to graduates, and with no obligation to take up the role we provide them with, while our Bootcamp aims to supercharge the supply of top-in-class software developers, and increase diversity in this crucial profession.”