An independent evaluation of the Office for Students’ (OfS) postgraduate conversion course in artificial intelligence (AI) and data science programme finds that over 37 courses were funded and more than 950 scholarships were awarded to students from underrepresented backgrounds.
Data, from April 2020 to March 2023, shows 7,600 students have enrolled on AI and data science postgraduate conversion courses supported by OfS-allocated funding. Evidence suggests that the programme has had a substantial positive effect on the number of postgraduate students and graduates in AI and data science in the UK with expertise to address skills gaps in these industries. The programme is expected to deliver at least 6,000 new graduates in total, far exceeding the original target to deliver 2,500 by spring 2023.
Between April 2020 and March 2023, 37 postgraduate conversion courses in AI and data science were funded and delivered across 28 universities, of which 30 courses are entirely new. These courses were developed to respond to a skills shortage and a lack of diversity in the tech sector. According to the evaluation, many students who did not previously have a qualification in these subject areas benefited from the programme to retrain in AI and data science.
