Students pursue digital skills to improve careers

New research from UK software firm KX reveals the UK’s digital skills hotspots, areas across the nation where students are embracing digital skills including coding and data analytics to enhance their careers prospects and help to futureproof the UK’s economy.

The findings form part of a nationwide piece of research which interviewed 1,000 students across all areas of the UK.

Country-level breakdown

Standout findings include that two fifths (41%) of students in England can currently code or are learning to, and almost a third (27%) can do so in more than one language.

The figures for learning to code across Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland were 38%, 32% and 25% respectively.

The importance of data

The findings also reveal that nationwide digital learning is high on the agenda. 84% of students have now taken courses in either statistics (31%), data analytics (29%), or computational intelligence (24%). When it comes to data analytics the North is leading the way with 35% in the North West and 41% of students in Yorkshire & Humber having prioritized learning in this field.

And the reasoning for learning new skills may surprise. While roles in IT & Telecoms are a focus for just 5% of nationwide respondents, over 21% of students stated their primary reason for learning a digital skill was for a future role in healthcare. 12% reported their reasoning as an opportunity to move into education and 10% the arts.

Michaela Woods, a Technical Evangelist at KX, who learnt to code when studying at University and has seven years of experience working as a kdb+ developer said: “Learning to code is not only a one-time learning opportunity that ends when you enter the workforce. Technology is changing at a rapid rate, so digital skills and capabilities need to grow with the changing environment and circumstances.

“The exciting thing about learning to code early on in your education is that you will have a solid technical basis to start from, and the confidence to continually upskill and re-skill as your career progresses.”

Regional outliers

Split via region the research presented some significant outliers, with 38% of those interviewed in the East Midlands looking to move into healthcare and 15% of those in the East of England using digital skills as a way to move into the arts. Perhaps also surprising was that just 11% of London students looked to digital skills as a route into a career in Finance. A figure beaten by the East Midlands & Wales which saw respondents report 12% and 16% respectively.

The research also looked at UK students’ keenness for learning new languages, revealing how students compare the importance of linguistic skills against learning to code. While 29% reported they were of equal importance, speaking a new language did slightly outrank having computer programming skills (34% vs 29%). While this was mirrored across all regional data, it was closest in the East of England with a split of 25% for language learning and 23% for coding.

Daniel Baker, Head of Evangelism at KX, speaking on the findings said: ‘It’s fascinating to look at how much emphasis UK students are now putting towards digital skills. Traditionally coding has sat outside the general curriculum, with students turning to external providers to source materials to help with these skills. Hopefully these findings will emphasize the importance of providing our young people with access to the tools to help them enhance their digital capabilities.

“Regionally we are seeing the Midlands and North, as well as the East of England and Wales lead the way in many categories when it comes to enhancing their digital skill set. This may be surprising, with many expecting London to feature more prominently, but it shows how keen students outside of the South of the UK are to progress their careers.”

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Research methodology
1,000 students in further education aged 16-23 were surveyed in January 2022 across the UK.

About KX
KX, the leading technology for real-time data analytics and decision intelligence, is part of FD Technologies plc, a group of data-driven businesses that unlock the value of insight, hindsight and foresight to drive organizations forward. KX Streaming Analytics, built on the kdb+ time-series database, is an industry-leading high-performance, in-memory computing, streaming analytics and operational intelligence platform. It delivers the best possible performance and flexibility for high-volume, data-intensive analytics and applications across multiple industries. The Group operates from 15 offices across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific and employs more than 3,000 people worldwide. For more information visit www.kx.

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