Ada, the National College for Digital Skills is a specialist

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

college and has campuses in Manchester and London, England. At the London Sixth Form college every 16-19year old student takes Computer Science and all of Ada's diverse Higher Level and Degree Apprentices work in skills shortage disciplines in innovative, blue-chip companies. It is named after

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

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 pla ...

Gamesys The Gamesys Group is an online software development and gambling 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 ...

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

, and

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

. 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. The College focuses on achieving three aims: # To be the centre of excellence for the teaching and learning of advanced digital skills # To offer students a viable, high-quality alternative to university # To be a beacon of best practice for employment-focused provision

History

The

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 Sta ...

writing his book Education, Education, Education.

Deloitte Digital Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wit ...

and the

are the colleges founding partners. Capital Funding is supplied by BEIS, the

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and

Haringey Council Haringey London Borough Council, also known as Haringey 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 London. The council has been under Labour majorit ...

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

college in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

since 1993. In 2023 Ada celebrated the move to two brand-new campuses: London Victoria and Manchester Ancoats. By 2028 Ada will have educated 10,000 young people nationwide. Currently 38% of Ada's learners are female, 51% are from ethnic minority backgrounds and 50% come from low income households, compared to national averages of c. 20%.

Recognition

Ada, in partnership with Bank of America, won an award for "Promoting Opportunity" through social mobility in May 2023. Ada were honoured with the first ever "King's Award for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity" (through social mobility). Ada were one of 148 organisations nationally to be recognised with the award. The achievement follows a partnership with Bank of America to deliver outreach and additional services which recruit and support young people from underrepresented groups into Ada's

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

and Digital Degree Apprenticeship education programmes and onto careers in technology.

Provision

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 courses in Software Development, Data Analytics, Tech Consultancy, Cyber Security and Business Analysis with over 30 employers such as

Salesforce Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, e-commerce, analytics, artificial intelligence, and ap ...

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

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

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

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

, sits at the core of Ada's programmes. In 2024 Cohort 7 of the Sixth Form achieved the best eve
results

References

{{authority control 2016 establishments in England Universities and colleges 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 Ada Lovelace