Ada, the National College for Digital Skills. (Ada College) is a small college for

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...

in London, England, with campuses in

Tottenham Hale Tottenham Hale is a district of north London and part of the London Borough of Haringey, bounded by the River Lea and located to the south/south-east of Tottenham proper. From 1850 to 1965, it was part of the Municipal Borough of Tottenham, in Mi ...

and Whitechapel. It is named after

Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the A ...

and opened in September 2016. Its curriculum is designed with input from founding industry partners such as

Bank of America Merrill Lynch BofA Securities, Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading plat ...

Gamesys The Gamesys Group is an online software development and gaming business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by the U.S. casino operator, Bally's Corporation, in October 2021. History The company was founded in by An ...

, IBM,

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

, and

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. Their founding education partner is the

Aldridge Foundation The Aldridge Foundation is a British educational charity which focusses on creating social change and community regeneration opportunities through enterprise and entrepreneurship, to help young people to reach their potential and improve their co ...

. The Board is chaired by Tiffany Hall and Martha Lane Fox is Ada's Patron.

History

The

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

announced the formation of Ada, the National College for Digital Skills, in 2014 in a move to open five new National Colleges in crucial industries. The National Colleges have a mission to work designing the curriculum with employers “to produce the skills needed now and into the future to ensure the UK remains innovative and at the forefront of pioneering industry.” Ada was founded by Mark Smith and Tom Fogden, both of the inaugural

Teach First Teach First (also Teach First Cymru) is a social enterprise registered as a charity which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales. Teach First coordinates an employment-based teaching training programme whereby participa ...

cohort which aims to get talented teachers into classrooms in low income areas. Previously Smith assisted

Lord Adonis Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, (born Andreas Adonis; 22 February 1963) is a British Labour Party politician and journalist who served in HM Government for five years in the Blair ministry and the Brown ministry. He served as Secretary of State ...

writing his book Education, Education, Education.

, Deloitte Digital, IBM,

and the

are the colleges founding partners. Capital Funding is supplied by

BEIS The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is a department of His Majesty's Government. The department was formed during a machinery of government change on 14 July 2016, following Theresa May's appointment as Prime M ...

, the

GLA GLA or Gla may refer to: Entertainment * ''GLA'' (album), by Scottish alternative rock band Twin Atlantic * Great Lakes Avengers, a fictional comic hero group Science and technology * Alpha-galactosidase, a glycoside hydrolase enzyme * GLA ...

and

Haringey Council Haringey London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Haringey in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. As of 2022, Haringey is divided into 21 wards, ...

. Ada opened to its first cohort of students in 2016 and became the first brand new

college in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

since 1993. Ada opened its second campus in Whitechapel, London in March 2019. By 2028 Ada will have educated 10,000 young people nationwide. There will be an ongoing cohort of 1,500 per annum in London and plans in place for a campus outside London.

Provision

The College opened its ‘Hub’ campus in

in September 2016. Ada's sixth form first took students in September 2016. Each Ada student studies Computer Science as well as a range of A-levels. Ada's higher and degree level apprenticeship programmes began in 2017. Ada currently offers pathways in Software Development, Data Analytics and Tech Consultancy with over 30 blue chip employers such as Salesforce,

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

, EY and many more. A degree programme, validated by the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

, sits at the core of Ada's programmes.

References

{{coords, 51.5858, -0.06367, display=title 2016 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 2016 Further education colleges in London 2016 in London Education in the London Borough of Haringey Education in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets