Digital Skills Pioneer CodeClan Enters Liquidation  

Scottish digital skills pioneer, CodeClan, goes into liquidation after only eight years of trading. 

The non-profit organisation was Scotland’s first SQA accredited digital skills academy, the only one of its kind in the country. The idea was to help ease the technical skills shortage by enabling more than 2,000 students to gain the necessary skills and qualifications in data science and software development to enter the technology labour market. The crash course was perfect for candidates looking to take on a new career path, or to build on their existing skillset.  

The unfortunate reality of CodeClan’s liquidation 

The tech talent shortage is an ongoing issue in the UK and across developed nations. The demand for tech talent has continued to rise since the Covid-19 pandemic, but factors such as the lack of higher technical education and ongoing product innovation means the supply of talent is unlikely to keep up. According to recent findings from the European Commission, investing in higher education – for both adolescents and adults – will help to diversify the workforce, encouraging more women and young people to pursue careers in tech. In recent years, the technology labour market has become increasingly more flexible, with many companies upskilling existing employees to fill talent gaps, or considering candidates who harbour relevant skillsets that can be transferred and developed to fit the vacancy.  

However, the difficulty in resourcing talent is exacerbated by a significant drop in funding (57% year-over-year). Less investment capital has forced a new reality upon tech start-ups and SMEs, a reality all too familiar to CodeClan.  

Their ultimate goal was to bridge the UK’s technical skills gap by creating a new generation of talent through their accessible programme. The regrettable news of their liquidation has resulted in the entire CodeClan workforce being made redundant and the immediate cessation of trading has led to all students enrolled on the course to face untimely termination of their studies. Not only have CodeClan’s direct stakeholders suffered as a consequence of entering into liquidation, but they can no longer support the development of technical skills for many aspiring data scientists and programmers. Their cost effective and diversified gateway to the Scottish technology labour market has collapsed, what could have been a vital solution to an ongoing problem has left many in the lurch.  

We are deeply saddened by the news of CodeClan’s liquidation. As advocates for increased education in technical skills, we have always supported the work CodeClan were doing. Their digital skills courses presented a great opportunity for anyone looking for an entry point into the UK technology sector and was a truly inspiring solution to bridging the ongoing technical skills gap. We wish anyone affected by this unfortunate closure the best of luck in their future endeavours.  

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