LONDON, September 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
NextGen Skills Academy's first qualification in Games, Animation and VFX Skills being taught in colleges now
Just one year after announcing the launch of NextGen Skills Academy, Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy, today visited Uxbridge College to see NextGen's brand new course in action.
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NextGen Skills Academy is a government and industry-invested initiative offering young people new pathways into a variety of digital creative sectors, whilst at the same time addressing specific skills shortages that have been identified by employers in the games, animation and VFX industries. Today Ed Vaizey met the first students enrolled on the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Games, Animation and VFX Skills, a two-year course that is comparable to three A' levels and is being taught in four colleges across England now.
Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey said, "NextGen Skills Academy has done a fantastic job working with employers to deliver a course that will equip students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to forge a career in the creative industries. The Academy will play an important role in providing a pipeline of highly skilled talent into animation, video game and VFX businesses across the nation, helping to cement our position as a world leader in these fields."
For September 2016, NextGen Skills Academy is planning to have a further 16 colleges offering the Diploma. "All the colleges who are running the courses from September 2015 have full classes so it's crucial that we recruit more colleges to bring this opportunity to an even broader range of students across the country," said Gina Jackson, Managing Director of NextGen Skills Academy. "We exceeded our recruitment target by more than 50% this year, which is evidence that young people want this course, and we know employers want to develop more future talent so we'll continue to bring more colleges on board. We'll also be growing our portfolio of products this year by launching a range of taster sessions and short courses for 13-18 year olds who want to explore some simple game creation or VFX or animation work before signing up to the Level 3 course."
Amanda Slayton-Joslin
HonchoPR
Tel: +44(0)7774-601059
Skype: honcho.amanda
