QUEEN'S WELCOMES ANNOUNCEMENT OF FUNDED ONLINE TRAINING PLACES BY ECONOMY MINISTER 
8 October 2020
Economy Minister Diane Dodds this week announced 3,000 free online training places for people whose employment has been disrupted by the pandemic.
Representing an investment of £4.6million, the courses will have a focus on digital skills and be delivered by the local colleges and universities, including at Queen's University Belfast.
Encouraging people to apply, the Minister said:
“I am keenly aware of the impact Covid-19 has had on the employment of so many people across a wide range of sectors. These 3,000 online training places will provide people with the opportunity to upskill and reskill, enabling them to pursue a career in what are growing local sectors.
“Developing the skills of our people right across Northern Ireland is a key priority for me as we begin the process of rebuilding our economy. This investment builds on my previous announcement in June of £1.7million for online training places and I am determined to keep skills at the centre of our long term strategic plans.
“Courses will be available from both further and higher education institutions and I urge anyone who is eligible to access this free training.”
Professor David Jones, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students at Queen's said:
"We warmly welcome the announcement by the Minister of these fully-funded skills training places for members of our community directly impacted by this pandemic, in addition to our successful postgraduate programmes in Software Development and Operations and Supply Chain Management.
“This announcement will allow them to upskill or reskill, develop their employment opportunities, and support the regrowth of our economy, both locally and globally."
Across the sector, opportunities are available from entry to postgraduate levels, focussing on skills identified by industry, linked to priority economic sectors, including:
- digital skills
- green technologies
- healthcare and life sciences
- leadership and management
Most courses will be delivered online and how you take part will be flexible to fit around your busy lives. They will provide an opportunity to re-skill and upskill into areas where job growth is expected to be high as we emerge from the impact of coronavirus.
Currently available from Queen’s are courses that include:
- Software Development
- Applied Cyber Security
- Audiovisual Post-production
- Data Analytics
- Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
- Engineering a Zero Carbon Transition
- Advanced Chemical Analysis
- Materials Science and Engineering
All courses include an accredited qualification Post Graduate Certificates (Level 7) and will finish by 31 March 2021. Full details – along with information on the colleges/universities offering the courses – are available from the NI Direct website.
For more on the research and analysis being carried out at Queen's in response to COVID-19, visit: https://www.qub.ac.uk/coronavirus/. If you would like to help the University in its efforts to tackle the pandemic, visit our Rapid Response page.
To support health-related research projects at Queen’s, visit the Development and Alumni Relations Office website or contact Teresa Sloan, Head of Health Fundraising.
Media enquiries should be addressed to the Communications Officer at Queen’s University Belfast.
Pictured with the Economy Minister Diane Dodds (Centre) at Southern Regional College’s Banbridge campus are L-R: Professor Brian Murphy, Ulster University; Professor David Jones, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students at Queen's University; John D'Arcy, Open University; Brian Doran, Southern Regional College; and Ken Webb, Chair of the FE Colleges' Principals' Group.
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