Interest in business and computing degrees soar at Warwickshire college group thanks to employer demand

A leading college group is seeing heightened interest in its business and computing degree courses thanks to high demand from employers.

WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group) is seeing students continue to enter onto its degree courses with the start date for courses under a month away – and there is still time for new students to apply.

BA Business and Management, BSc Computing Networks and Cyber Security and FdA Digital Media Content are three of the courses still available to applicants – with the skills delivered supporting employment in the fast-changing business, digital media, and IT world.

All three degrees are run out of the college group’s Royal Leamington Spa College.

The college group was granted Bachelor Degree Awarding Powers by The Office for Students earlier this year – meaning it can now design and award full three-year honours degree courses.

Degree courses at the college have been designed with employability at the forefront.

Steve Taylor, Dean of Higher Education at WCG, says that it’s a misconception that the window has closed for students wanting to study for a degree this year.  These degrees provide students with skills to thrive in the job market.

He said: “While many students will have already accepted offers of study for the upcoming academic year, there will no doubt be some people out there who think they have missed the boat – but that isn’t the case.

“Around this time of year, we see a lot of sign-ups from part-time and mature students for our degrees, with the courses in the business, digital media and computing sector among the most popular in September.

“These are degree courses that are specifically developed to maximise employability, with graduates armed with skills to be a success in the modern job market.

“In the wake of the pandemic and the move from Government to develop skilled individuals who can support the modern economy, we have certainly seen a rise in applications for courses that have a clear career path after graduation.”

This follows national trends which have found that Business and Management degrees were only second to engineering in terms of most sought-after degrees in the job market, according to a Study International 2021 report.

Steve added: “Regionally, the Midlands Engine has identified a digital skills shortage for almost three-quarters of large employers and half of SMEs in the area – with government statistics nationally indicating a skills gap in cyber security for 48 per cent of businesses.

“That shows why people are starting to turn to studying computing degrees and why those students taking the course will go on to be very attractive to employers.”