Digital skills academy CodeClan to become college-based course

Scotland's digital skills academy might be revived as a college-based course less than a year after its innovative predecessor went into liquidation.

The CodeClan name and brand have been acquired by CodeBase, the contractor for the Scottish government's £42m TechScaler program, which supports start-up businesses and entrepreneurs.

Teaching will be provided by Owasar, an online provider based in San Francisco.

A spokesperson for CodeBase said the pilot program would involve training staff from three Scottish colleges: Edinburgh College, Borders College, and West Lothian College.

He mentioned that students are expected to join the next phase of the pilot in 2025.

Martin Boyle from CodeBase said that Qwasar would deliver world-class content through the Scottish college network.

He added, "While the pilot is relatively small and regionally focused for now, we expect to expand across Scotland in the future."

The spokesperson added that those involved in the pilot would include college staff, such as lecturers who teach computer science, as well as management and support staff from CodeBase.

West Lothian College principal Jackie Galbraith described it as an "exciting partnership."

She said, "Scotland's colleges have an excellent track record in offering a wide range of opportunities, helping students, regardless of their backgrounds, to develop the digital skills needed to start new careers."

CodeClan went into liquidation in August 2023 after struggling to place students into jobs during the COVID pandemic.

It was launched in 2015 by then Deputy First Minister John Swinney to address a skills gap for software developers and boost Scotland's tech sector.

It aimed to retrain people from all backgrounds and professions in the basics of software programming and create a community of students, coders, and Scotland's tech companies.

The business provided training from locations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness, employing 57 people.

The Scottish government and Scottish Enterprise declined to provide financial help to CodeClan before it went into administration in August 2023.

However, a government spokesperson told BBC Scotland they provided "support to students and instructors, enabling those affected by the liquidation of CodeClan to complete their courses."

Mark Logan, the chief entrepreneurial adviser to the Scottish government, said that combining in-person and online training makes a nationwide program possible.

"By using these resources together, the CodeClan model is now much cheaper and removes the payment burden for employers, which was a problem with the previous CodeClan model," he said.

TechScaler is the Scottish government’s start-up support program with seven hubs across Scotland.

It is managed by CodeBase, which is also funded by the UK government and has private sector contracts, including a partnership with Barclays on learning programs across the UK.