A lot is said about the lack of people with good IT qualifications. That will change as more students enroll in computing and science college programs.

A study by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in the United Kingdom points that there are more students signing up for science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) courses is rising. The number of students enrolled in UK undergraduate computer science courses increased by 2% between the academic years of 2013-14 and 2014-15, while the number of undergraduates choosing to study engineering and technology courses rose by 3%, Computer Weekly reports.

Also, 2% more undergraduates studying biological sciences, but mathematical sciences saw no change in undergraduate enrolment. “There was an overall increase of 1% in full-time first-year enrolments in 2014 to 2015 and a 3% increase in science subjects. The proportion studying science subjects in 2014 to 2015 was 42% for first-year full-time enrolments, compared to 41% in 2013 to 2014,” the HESA report said.

While 2% to 3% increase doesn’t sound like much, it is the basis of a new trend. A trend that should produce slightly more qualified people who will be able to work in the IT industry in a few years time. Sadly just 15% of women choose computing in the university which is a level that remains unchanged. It seems more needs to be done to encourage women to go into the tech field.

And there’s another problem. Graduates claim they can’t find jobs and the companies say that there are not enough graduates with the needed skills. The reason for that is the university programs often are not up-to-date with the actual trends and business environment. So they create workers that have a degree but lack the skills. Even so, traditional education is still a preferred choice, because it’s, well, a tradition.

Slowly but surely though, more companies are looking towards apprenticeship programs and IT certification courses. They give people updated knowledge and skills that they can use immediately in their work. It is still not a widely discussed topic amongst the institutions, but more and more businesses are starting to look towards such trainings. It is where marketplaces like CourseDot come into the fold. There you can find thousands of trainings from the world’s top training companies for the world’s most popular platforms.

Image credit: Flickr (CC) / hackNY.org