University of Westminster and GSM London Partner with the Digital Marketing Institute

University of Westminster & GSM London Address UK digital skills gap with Digital Marketing Institute partnership

• Educating and certifying 800+ digital marketing students

• ¾ million digitally skilled workers needed by 2017 in the UK

• Partnerships collectively worth over €1.5 million

The University of Westminster and GSM London (Greenwich School of Management) have both partnered with the Digital Marketing Institute to offer undergraduate students an accredited Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing. Over the next three years some 800 students will benefit from this professional certification to present to prospective employers alongside their academic degree.

Research from O2 revealed the UK will need, at a minimum, an additional 745,000 workers with digital skills by 2017, with over 169,000 being young people.

The aim of the partnerships is to better help graduates fill the widening skills gap in the digital industry by combining the academic endorsement of an undergraduate degree with an industry-recognised professional qualification.

Ian Dodson, Co-founder and Director, Digital Marketing Institute, said: “There is a growing European digital skills gap, estimated to stand at 900,000 by 2015 according to the European Commission. In such a fast paced industry, where skill requirements are constantly changing, it's incredibly difficult for undergraduates to interview for jobs with a valuable toolkit of industry focused skills straight from university.

“We're working directly with education institutions to bolt on practical digital learning items to their existing academic programmes. The result is that the digital sector gets better skilled candidates, and graduates get an industry validated certification which proves to employers they are industry-ready applicants.”

Jon Pike, Director of Internationalisation at Westminster Business School, University of Westminster said: “We are a professionally focused business school and are well aware of the demands of the current job market on marketing graduates throughout the world, especially when it comes to the digital skills. Therefore, we are delighted that we can extend and enhance our portfolio with this digital marketing qualification.”
Christy Traore, Associate Dean for Education at GSM London said: “We believe these professional qualifications significantly enhance the employability of graduates and also enables marketing practitioners to accredit or update their skill set. We're delighted to be working in partnership with The Digital Marketing Institute, a world leader in digital marketing training and education to offer the Professional Diploma - a practical course taught by digital marketing practitioners.”

The Digital Marketing Institute's industry validated syllabus is currently taught in 32 countries making it the largest single certification standard in digital marketing. Other partners in the UK include the London School of Marketing, one of the world's largest providers of marketing courses and the North East Sales and Marketing Academy (nesma).

The partnerships are valued at a combined €1.5million. Last month the Digital Marketing Institute announced that it almost doubled its 2013 headcount by the end of Q1 2014 to now employ 46 people across Ireland and the UK, in support of the company's rapid expansion.

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Media Contact:

Rachel Byrne, Digital Marketing Institute, +353 1 531 1200 / +353 87 1927236 rachelbyrne@digitalmarketinginstitute.com

Bernice Burnside, Bvisible Communications, +353 1 845 2401/ +353 87 2337366
bernice@bvisible.ie

About the Digital Marketing Institute

The Digital Marketing Institute is the global certification standard in digital marketing education, producing more graduates trained to a single digital marketing standard than any other certification body.

The Digital Marketing Institute works with global digital experts and leaders to define the skills and qualifications required by today's digital marketing professionals, certifying candidates to Diploma, Postgraduate and Masters levels all over the globe.

The Digital Marketing Institute now certifies digital professionals through the following channels:

• Online: Where students can study for certification directly with the Digital Marketing Institute through online learning

• Licence: Where the Digital Marketing Institute licences its syllabus to an approved third party organisation to teach the content on its behalf

• Corporate: Where the Digital Marketing Institute offers access to its learning library to enterprise level corporates and delivers tailored certification programmes

About Westminster Business School, University of Westminster

Westminster Business School, University of Westminster, is one of London's leading centres for professional business education. The School offers undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes, including the AMBA accredited MBA. All degrees are professionally focused and prepare students for working in their chosen careers. Students have opportunities to enhance their practical experience through internships, professional placements and study abroad. The School's central London location provides strong links with the business and government communities, bringing practitioners and experts into the classroom on a regular basis.

About GSM London

GSM London is an independent provider of Higher Education with two campuses in London at Greenwich and Greenford, and a study centre at London Bridge. Its degree programmes are validated by the University of Plymouth and GSM London specialises in programmes leading to qualifications in business management, finance & accounting, law, travel and tourism, IT, HR, and health services management, from undergraduate to PhD level