Higher education institutions can lead the way to eliminating digital poverty

Digital poverty is an issue impacting students right across the UK and other developed nations. The fact that there is anybody studying in 2022 who can’t access the technology they need to progress their education is just not good enough. We are badly letting down the next generation – not to mention the economy, where a significant digital skills gap is holding back productivity.

During the Covid pandemic, one-fifth of UK schoolchildren did not have access to laptops or digital devices. Today, one in six students in higher education are considering abandoning their studies due to the cost-of-living crisis. Even if they don’t, the reduction in their spending power is likely to see their capacity to invest in laptops greatly diminished. And that, in itself, will increase their likelihood of dropping out since, in today’s world, lack of online access diminishes inclination to train or learn.

At University Academy 92, we believe that the higher education sector can help in several ways to equip the next generation with the right skills for the fast-paced digital world. First, we all have a part to play in ensuring the very best tech is available for students on every campus. I’m talking not just about ensuring laptop access but about creating an environment that surrounds learners with cutting-edge, immersive tech.

In addition, the courses being run on those inspiring campuses need to be run in conjunction with industry. Our collaborations with companies such as Microsoft and TalkTalk allow our students gain practical skills and direct insight into what will be required of them in the workplace.

The sector also needs to provide practical packages of support for disadvantaged students, who are most at risk of being without the right technology. We have a Make It for Real support programme targeted at young people in deprived communities, where higher education is perceived to be unaffordable or inaccessible. Recipients receive £5,000 worth of support, which includes a laptop, unlimited data, lunch every day, a travel pass to and from campus and a £150 home voucher for soft furnishings.

But the challenge goes beyond what we offer our enrolled students. According to the Digital Poverty Alliance, around 11 million people in the UK lack the digital skills needed for everyday life, and only 36 per cent of those with no formal educational qualifications use the internet – compared with 95 per cent of those with higher education qualifications. Furthermore, 20 per cent of young people aged 8 to 24 lack the ability to get online.

With this in mind, higher education institutions should open up their facilities and expertise to the wider community, running programmes that address digital exclusion and raise aspiration by upskilling and reskilling those who live and work in our locations. Eliminating digital poverty should be at the top of the priority list for all higher education institutions.

But it also needs to be top of the priority list for any government interested in levelling up. Last year, despite calls from multiple vice-chancellors and higher education bodies, the government provided only an extra £20 million to support students facing digital poverty in England. This will do little to reduce the social inequalities and digital divisions we are seeing. In today’s economic crisis, we need much greater support to ensure young people have equal access to education.

In our own city region, Greater Manchester, more than 1.2 million people – 42 per cent of the total – are without digital access. This includes around one in five children. But we hope to reduce that number considerably, via our multimillion-pound Digital Academy, which opened in September. Funded by the Office for Students, it will cater for 380 full-time students undertaking computer science degrees, degree apprenticeships and professional-body-certified short courses.

In addition, the facilities – which include a robotics lab, an immersive 360-degree Igloo learning space, augmented-reality capabilities in classrooms and digital-media labs – will be open to others in the community looking to learn digital skills to aid their employment chances. They will be able to pursue standard apprenticeships, professional digital short courses and training bootcamps.

It would be incredibly powerful for other institutions to embrace a similar approach, to ensure that the needs of every community across the country are met. By opening facilities such as ours, the higher education sector can act as a catalyst for digitally upskilling, raising aspirations and helping to plug the skills gap.

Sara Prowse is CEO of University Academy 92 (UA92).