Ada National College for Digital Skills
The Aldridge Foundation was the Founding Education Partner of Ada, the National College for Digital Skills which opened in Tottenham Hale, London, in 2016, and Aldridge Education continues to partner with the College.
An industry-led institution, the College addresses a growing demand for higher level digital skills in the UK and is one of a small number of national skill colleges announced by the then Prime Minister David Cameron in December 2014.
It offers a range of qualifications and apprenticeships.
In recognition of an urgent need to re-address the way in which young people are prepared to enter and succeed in a rapidly evolving digital economy, Ada has received both public and private sector support. After an initial donation from Gamesys, the inaugural industry supporter, partnerships were built with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deloitte, IBM and King. They all committed to support the design and set-up of the College to ensure students are ‘work-ready’ with the appropriate combination of practical and soft skills, and academic knowledge required to succeed in highly skilled digital jobs.
The College has initially opened with a campus in London, and has also been supported by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deloitte, Henderson Global Investors, IBM, King, Oracle Academy and the Tech Partnership.
In July 2015 Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, co-founder of lastminute.com became Patron of the College.
Tom Fogden, Co-Founder of the College, was appointed Ada’s first Dean. Tom was selected to become one of the first cohort of teachers for Teach First, a national educational leadership charity. More recently, he rejoined as the Head of Strategy to organise various national education technology initiatives. With expertise in both education and business, Tom became a technology consultant with Deloitte and was seconded to the London Olympics, where he project-managed their supply chain.
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