Greater Manchester and Raspberry Pi Foundation have joined forces to develop a new qualification to give young people the digital skills they need for a career in the technology sector.
The Greater Manchester Business Board and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) have teamed up with the Raspberry Pi Foundation to design a first-of-its-kind Applied Computing qualification, which will be made available to secondary school pupils through the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate – known as the MBacc.
The MBacc is Greater Manchester’s plan to transform technical education across the city-region. Co-designed by education leaders, employers and businesses, the MBacc will provide young people with a clear pathway from school to high-quality jobs in Greater Manchester’s growing economy.
The new qualification will help young people who don’t take the traditional academic route to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to thrive in one of the city-region’s fastest-growing sectors.
The Applied Computing qualification will offer pupils on the MBacc route a tailored, accessible learning experience, setting them up with digital skills for the workplace.
Designed to be suitable for independent study, the qualification will align to the knowledge and skills appropriate to each stage of the MBacc as young people progress – from providing fundamental digital skills, all the way through to preparing for a career in the digital and tech sector.
Raspberry Pi is known for making low-cost, credit-card sized computers that can help young people develop their coding skills. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity with the mission to enable young people to realise their full potential through the power of computing and digital technologies.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, said: “The support and interest we have received since launching the MBacc shows that industry partners share our view that the technical education system in this country needs to be rewired.
“The Raspberry Pi Foundation does fantastic work teaching young people about computing and how to create using digital technologies, and we look forward to working with them to drive forward our technical education ambitions. This qualification offers knowledge and skills that have genuine application in the workplace.
“Our digital and technology sector is one of Greater Manchester’s biggest strengths and is rapidly growing. To sustain that growth, we need to ensure there is a clear pathway to a career in the sector for any young person who has that ambition.”
Chair of the Greater Manchester Business Board, Lou Cordwell, said: “Our ambition to make Greater Manchester the UK’s leading technical education city-region will help us to shape a skilled workforce that will meet business needs and accelerate our future growth.
“Working with the Raspberry Pi Foundation to deliver this unique applied computing qualification will give our region’s young people the skills and knowledge they need to access opportunities in our growing digital economy, making it more accessible to everyone.
“This qualification is another example of public and private sectors partnering with each other for mutual benefit – the type of collaboration that has become one of Greater Manchester’s distinctive strengths.
“We’ll be redoubling our efforts to build and strengthen these partnerships as we look to drive economic growth. The qualification will secure future success for us while also opening doors for the next generation of Greater Manchester’s workforce.
“We hope this is the first of many digital qualifications that we can deliver alongside the private sector to show Greater Manchester is leading the way when it comes to technical education.”
Chief Executive of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Philip Colligan, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and businesses in the region to develop the Raspberry Pi Certificate in Applied Computing. This qualification will give all young people in Manchester, including those who may not be in formal education, the chance to develop the skills and confidence to pursue a career in tech.”