On the importance of IT

The DirectGov pages have a considerable amount of advice geared towards adults considering returning to learning, covering everything from choosing the right course, considering online study, and bursaries and educational loans which can help people commit to their classes.

However, it also has a lot of advice aimed solely at those considering taking an IT course – probably because these qualifications are so popular at the moment. Computing has become so central to the world of work that thousands of people each year choose to brush up on their skills.

Some of these are workers who left school before computing was widely taught, meaning they now feel at a disadvantage in the workplace. Others are people who have a good working knowledge of PCs but want to improve their abilities, perhaps to land a job working specifically in IT.

The DirectGov study advice notes that brushing up on computing skills can even help people manage their day-to-day tasks more easily, allowing them to shop and bank online. Furthermore, it adds that Britons who hope to return to learning other subjects can benefit from improving their IT skills first as the web can give them access to a whole load of free information and research which can help them with their studies.