IT and Computing

Around 1.5 million people work in the IT and telecoms industry in the UK.

Our ICT pathways will help you develop your technical skills in areas including programming, data management and mobile app development - as well as soft skills in project management and communication.

You will learn to design simple algorithms, use logical reasoning to debug errors, create programmes and understand the differences between data and information. You will build an understanding of different operating systems and learn to evaluate the quality of solutions when recommending improvements.

Our ICT students also gain additional industry insights through employer visits and projects set by external mentors. These programmes will help you to gain the practical and theoretical skills needed to secure a career in this growing industry.

Around 1.5 million people create, install, operate and support IT systems that form the backbone of companies and organisations.

Our programmes enable you to develop skills in:

• Games development and coding, giving you the opportunity to contribute to live games developments and take part in a work experience programme
• Programming
• Data management
• Mobile app development
• Project management
• Communication

Subjects 

• Computing and IT - Develop your knowledge, practical skills and understanding of IT across different operating systems. 

Qualifications

We offer a range of qualifications, from Level 2 (equivalent to GCSEs, grades A*-C or 9-4) to university level (Higher national certificate and Higher national diploma). Programmes include games development and coding, where students contribute to live games developments and take part in a work experience programme.

Facilities

Our IT facilities include: two IT suites in Oxford, which can accommodate up to 25 students, with all required software for our IT programmes, and three IT suites in Banbury. One of them is exclusively to be used for our Gaming programme and can accommodate up to 29 students. The games suite has i7 processors and 16Gb RAM, as well as a high end graphics card. We use software including: access databasing software, programming language compilers, the Unity games platform, Unreal, Blender (an online 2D games engine), as well as the entire Autodesk suite. 

The other two IT suites can accommodate more than 20 students and have i5 processors with 4Gb RAM. Computers have free access to the Cisco platform. We use the latest Visual Studio suite for programming, as well as Raspberry Pi for Python.
 

Career pathways

A career pathway is a a plan, with clear, practical steps you can take to achieve the career of your dreams. This will help equip you with the skills, attributes and knowledge that future employers want, giving you a greater chance of success.

Our career pathway maps will show you the best routes through college, higher education and employment and into the most popular industry sectors.  
 

Student success

Many of our Computing and IT students have developed exciting careers in this growing industry.

Yasmine Rasselkaf studied ICT Level 3 at Reading College. Alongside her programme, she achieved Cisco qualifications and is now studying for a a BsC in Digital and Technology solutions. Yasmine is now employed as a cross-functional apprentice with Cisco.

Anthony Vaccaro studied an HNC Computing and Systems Development before joining local software company Mobilis Consulting as a software tester, testing software on site for clients, identifying issues and feeding back to the developers. 

Industry partnerships

Our ICT students gain employability skills and industry insights through working in projects set by external mentors, employer visits and masterclasses. Examples include programming VEX robots and inspiring school children to use Raspberry Pi computers, Scratch programming and Lego Mindstorm.

Through employer visits and projects set by external mentors, you will gain industry insights that will help set you apart from the competition.