A NEW Digital Skills Centre has been launched at Bournemouth and Poole College to help meet the demands of employers looking to hire young people with digital-related qualifications.

The recent Tech Nation report said the tech sector is expanding 2.6 times faster than the rest of the UK economy.

Bournemouth’s digital sector employs more than 7,500 people and is worth more than £340million.

The centre has been created to help meet this growth and equip students with the skills and qualifications needed to start their career in the local digital industry.

Based at the college’s Lansdowne site, the centre has been developed in conjunction with some of Dorset’s leading digital employers including Blue Thirst, Redweb and Thinking Juice.

All digital, IT and software-related courses and apprenticeships will be taught in the new centre at the college.

Both full and part-time courses are available for people of all ages to study covering a wide range of digital subjects such as web design, animation, digital marketing and computing.

Jacqueline Page, vice principal of Bournemouth & Poole College, said: "We are proud to be at the forefront of providing digital skills to the young people of Dorset. The investment in the new centre has been significant for the college and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to supplying our local economy with suitable agency-ready candidates."

Carina George, account manager for the digital sector at the college, added: "We work hard to maintain our strong relationships with local businesses and see immense benefit for both parties and our students from working together closely in this way.

"We regularly communicate with local employers to find out the skills which they need young people to have, so that we can ensure that our students are as employable as possible."

More details are available from thecollege.co.uk/digital or call 01202 205500.