Thames Valley-based multi-academy trust praised for digital futures drive

A Thames Valley-based multi-academy education trust’s partnership with employers in the digital sector has won praise in a prestigious report.

Activate Learning Education Trust, which includes four university technical colleges (UTCs), two secondary schools and 3,000 students, has been singled out for its Digital Futures Programme.

Launched four years ago, this aims to help youngsters learn tech and work skills and prepare them for STEM-related degrees or apprenticeships.

The programme includes major data centre companies such as Digital Realty, Ark, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Cyrus One who are embedded into school and college life.

Commercial partners run challenges, masterclasses and training sessions for students in school years 10 to 13, while engineering students work closely with partners in Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) units.

Activate, which includes Reading’s Theale Green School and the Bicester School plus Swindon, Oxfordshire, Reading and Heathrow UTCs, is mentioned in the recently published techUK report ‘Foundations for the Future: How Data Centres Can Supercharge UK Economic Growth’.

The trade association’s report highlights how digital infrastructure - now classed as critical national infrastructure and energy, food, defence and chemicals, are already a huge driver of economic growth in the UK, worth £4.7 billion.

Citing its enormous untapped potential, via AI and digital technologies, it points to the nationwide skills and talent shortage and cites Activate’s Digital Futures Programme as an example of an initiative making progress.

It mentions Ark Data Centres’ tie-up with Activate, initially at UTC Heathrow but now extended to include the other three UTCs, saying it ‘…speaks to the industry’s desire to inspire the next generation and ensure that the industry provides exciting and rewarding career pathways for all’.