2. Employer/Education Linkage :
2.2Educational Curricula

Fixing the Future Projects

Thanks to a series of projects initiated by e-skills NTO and Compaq Computers Ltd, selected colleges in the UK have been able to work directly with industry to create a new "IT Systems Support Technician" course and CD-Rom package, and to update their IT facilities and the skills of their teaching staff.

The course is especially aimed at young people keen on developing their IT Services skills, but also meets the needs of adults looking for a change of career, and individuals working in an IT Services-related area (eg sales people or helpdesk professionals). It provides the technical knowledge and skills to understand, install, maintain and troubleshoot hardware and software, as well as the soft skills needed to interact efficiently with colleagues and customers.

The projects were run on a region by region basis to address specific regional needs and to adapt the response to regional circumstances. Partners included Compaq Computers Ltd., selected colleges, and industry and education representatives. Funding was largely provided by Regional Developments Agencies in the South East, North East, South West, East Midlands, East of England and London.

As part of the projects, the selected colleges were equipped with the necessary hardware and software provided by Compaq Computers Ltd and college tutors received training to ensure their knowledge of the sector and its skill requirements is up-to-date. Additionally, the ITSS (IT Systems Support) Technician CD-ROM has been developed to allow for distance learning and to support course delivery.

Please visit the ITSST section at www.e-skillsnto.org.uk/itss for further information, including a list of colleges and training providers currently offering the qualification and an online demo of the ITSST CD-ROM.

The next level qualification, ITSS Professional, is currently under development.

Contact : Terry Killer on or

Step towards the Future - Scotland

Just like for the Fixing the Future projects in England, this project's main objective is to engage employers and FE in a unique partnership in order to increase the capability of FE to support training for the IT Services sector in Scotland.

As part of the project, the four colleges involved (ie Fife College, Cumbernauld College, Inverness College and Cardonald College) are to be equipped and prepared to offer the IT Systems Support Technician qualification. To date, the colleges have been equipped with the necessary hardware and software for course delivery. They will also be provided with high quality distance learning materials and college staff will be trained and accredited to deliver the qualification.

Please visit the ITSST section at www.e-skillsnto.org.uk/itss for further information, including a list of colleges and training providers currently offering the qualification and an online demo of the ITSST CD-ROM.

It is planned that another four colleges in Scotland will soon join and benefit from this project.

Contact : Michael Kowbel on or

This project was funded by a DfEE small business fund. The overall objective of this particular fund was to help SMEs group together to purchase and share training and therefore receive the same economies and benefits that a larger organisation would enjoy.

Our main partner was the Confederation of Group Training Associations, which represents the interests of GTAs (not-for-profit training providers). The project has helped develop these providers to deliver the IT Systems Support Technician and increase the numbers of Modern Apprentices in the IT services sector. This involved training and development of tutors in the GTAs to deliver the qualification and to conduct a technical survey of SMEs. The technical survey included an audit of the IT systems and the training needs of the organisations to support their hardware and software. The IT Systems Support Technician course was offered to these organisations so that one of their staff could acquire the skills necessary to act as an in-house IT paramedic.

The outcomes of this project were disseminated at the "e-skills for the UK Conference" organised by National Training Resources Limited and supported by e-skills NTO (Hinckley, Leicestershire, on 8 May 2001).

Please visit the ITSST section at www.e-skillsnto.org.uk/itss for further information, including a list of colleges and training providers currently offering the qualification and an online demo of the ITSST CD-ROM.

The 10 GTAs, which were involved in this project and now offer training towards the ITSST qualification, are:
National Training Resources ltd, Aylesbury Training Group, Camp Lane Development, Kirkdale Training, Leeds Training Trust, Mercia Training Ltd, North West Training Council, Pendle Training, Performance Through People, Southern Industries GTA, The Aspire Centre, Training 2000.
Other partners: DfEE, 200 x SMEs.

Contact : Maxine Mayer on or

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