What else BCS does
As the professional body for information technology, we have partnerships and associations with other organisations and bodies across the sector.
BCS represents professionals across the information technology sector, therefore its important that this is reflected in who we work with, both internally and externally. BCS is host to and part of several educational initiatives internally and externally we have a number of partnerships which all feed into our four key themes:
- Our digital lives should be in the hands of competent, ethical, and accountable professionals.
- Greater diversity and inclusion in the IT profession benefit society.
- The digital divide is a modern measure of inequality; it can be closed by access to skills as well as technology.
- The world will achieve net zero more rapidly with support of digital and data technologies.
What we’re doing in education
BCS have significant commitments to education and that are vital to the profession. Included in this is Barefoot and Computing at School (CAS)
Barefoot helps primary school pupils understand the fundamentals of computing, from performing specific tasks through a sequence of instructions (an algorithm) to spotting patterns and using logic to predict outcomes.
The programme is designed to provide teaching resources to develop ‘computational thinking’ skills, which help pupils solve problems and set them up for success in the digital world. We do this by providing free workshops, helpful online guides, and engaging lessons.
CAS is part of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. We are a grassroots community of educators, working together to support teachers and ensure every child has the opportunity to have a world-leading computing education.
Since 2012, CAS has supported over 40,000 teachers, academics and others who are passionate about computing education. We are proud to support more than 11,500 individuals who are actively participating in our community today.
Who we partner with?
As the professional body for information technology, BCS is partnered with various organisations in unique ways to deliver products and services that make IT good for the whole of society.
Coding Black Females was created in 2017. They are a non-profit organisation, whose primary aim is to provide opportunities for Black female developers to develop themselves, meet familiar faces, network, receive support and build relationships through having regular meetups.
Recent BCS research highlighted that our industry is made up of less than 1% of black women. We wanted to ensure that BCS were providing opportunities to this underrepresented group to widen their opportunities for success alongside Coding Black Females.
Over the past year BCS has provided 78 Coding Black Females with free BCS membership. As we continue with this initiative and provide BCS membership for more females from this underrepresented community, we will be looking for donations from our organisational members to give back to underrepresented communities.
BCS has partnered with the Jamaica Technology and Digital Alliance (JTDA) to help provide existing BCS members in the Caribbean with stronger links to their profession locally through networks, groups, and events. It will also enable BCS’ UK and international members to get a better understanding of the opportunities in the Caribbean’s technology sector.
There is strong alignment between the visions of BCS and JTDA which forms a solid foundation for the partnership. As the UK’s professional body for IT and the digital industries, BCS’s charitable objectives are to promote and advance the education and practice of computing for the benefit of society.
This means building a competent and ethical profession that is diverse, inclusive and plentiful in talent at all levels, and developing a society that is resilient and thriving in the digital world with access to the technology knowledge and skills needed.
In partnership with the Department for Education, we offer a Scholarship Programme to support trainee Computing teachers through their teaching journey. Along with £28,000 tax free funding, BCS scholars also receive a wealth of support and guidance including:
- Free CPD courses and webinars, providing extra opportunities to develop subject knowledge and improve teaching practices
- Access to a coaching programme; offering confidential advice on all aspects of teacher training from a trained coach and teacher
- Two years free associate membership at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT
BCS works in partnership with the Department for Education to offer a teaching scholarship aimed at creating the next generation of Computing teachers for our secondary schools. To date, the programme has proved a great success with more than 1600 applications over the six years it has been running.
Find out more about BCS Scholarships or email us at scholarships@bcs.uk.
BCS partners with a large network of training providers who deliver BCS certification and qualification programmes. Our programmes cover:
- Digital literacy: helping everyone to become safe and competent users of today's IT and digital applications, whatever their starting point
- Digital apprenticeships; as the IT industry’s trusted end-point assessment organisation for 18 of the digital apprenticeship standards, we bring together a global network of training professionals committed to sharing knowledge and good practice and influencing the digital skills agenda
- Professional certifications: with our partners, we provide a wide portfolio of professional certifications to meet these needs, enhancing skills at every career stage and encouraging progression
Browse the directory today and start building your network: BCS Partner Programme
