IT skills shortage in Northern Ireland is still worst in the UK, says e-skills UK

There is a profound shortage of IT skills in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the UK, according to the IT skills body e-skills UK.
 
In 2007, e-skills research found that Northern Ireland was finding it difficult attracting recruits with the right skills in the software sector, which is the country's largest growth area. E-skills have attempted to resolve this issue by participating in a Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) workgroup for a new development of GCE in software development.
 
The number of UCAS applications for computing and IT undergraduate programmes at the University of Ulster also increased from 2,193 in 2009 to 2,906 in 2011. Queen's University saw a slight decrease from 1,759 in 2010 to 1,697 in 2011, but this is still an improvement from 2009 when it had 1,514 applicants.
 
The ICT future skills progress report, also claimed that the body has made considerable progress in plugging the skills gap as part of an ICT future skills action plan that began in 2009.
 
The development made by e-skills has followed in-depth research on skills. It has included advertising campaigns in order to increase the number of students choosing IT in school targeting 14 – 19 year olds directly engaging with IT students through school visits and IT events. 
 
The progress report outlines that more than 13,500 students benefitted from these in 2011, compared with 7,000 in 2010. 67% said an IT Job is more appealing after the intervention from the programme.
 
E-skills also delivered a careers advice event for teachers during 2011 in partnership with LSDA (Learning and Skills Development Agency) and NYSE.