First of a kind FinTech accreditation

16 May 2023 01:17 PM

Employers with an interest in FinTech are invited to participate in a new collaborative effort to increase the flow of talent through industry-valued Masters degree programmes.

Context

Industry skills body TechSkills brings together employers and educators to increase the availability and uptake of programmes which deliver skills employers value. Employers collaborate to define the core skills they need for key occupations, and these are incorporated in accreditation criteria, along with factors concerning delivery, assessment and inclusivity. Programmes which meet these criteria are accredited by industry and promoted as Tech Industry Gold.

Employers and education providers become part of the supportive Tech Industry Gold community, learners are supported with an enriched developmental experience through interaction with employers, and successful graduates are awarded Tech Industry Gold Credentials articulating their skills in an industry-valued format.

FinTech collaboration

A new Tech Industry Gold option is being developed in response to demand from employers and universities wanting to improve the UK’s FinTech skills pool. The FinTech Pathway will be developed by leading employers working in the FinTech arena, alongside Universities across the UK’s four nations. 

• Our plan is to develop this as a first of a kind MSc Pathway
• MScs are a high level with more intensive timeframe and specialised focus than BScs. Recognising these differences, a model is proposed which builds on the Tech Industry Gold Custom Pathway BSc by incorporating:
  • Core Learning Outcomes  - which are common to all Tech Industry Gold MScs;
  • Specialist Defined Learning Outcomes - which are common to all Tech Industry Gold MScs in a given pathway (in this case FinTech)
  • Specialist Custom Learning Outcomes - which are programme specific, defined by the university and approved by industry

Process / time commitment

• All meetings will take place online
• We will hold a short initial scene setting meeting, followed by two further working group sessions
• Documentation will be disseminated iteratively between meetings to seek your expert feedback, developmental points and improvements
• On completion of the working groups, final drafts will be sent out for review
• Learning outcomes will then be finalised and incorporated into the Tech Industry Gold accreditation process
• Employers involved in the development will be invited to participate in accreditation panels

About TechSkills

Led by its high profile employer board, TechSkills identifies and promotes degrees, apprenticeships and training programmes which provide high quality pathways into digital & tech careers. TechSkills is the not-for-profit industry skills body for digital & tech, and is recognised as a Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) for the accreditation of degrees. It is a subsidiary of techUK, the tech industry trade association.

If you would like to be included, or if you would like to know more, please contact ian.bolton@techskills.org. We will be delighted to hear from you.