In this Member Spotlight, we hear from new Gold member, QA, on the training their organisation provides, joining ScotlandIS due to FOMO, and how apprenticeships are an overlooked pathway into tech.
Who is QA, and what do you do?
QA started as a tech training business in the UK 40 years ago and is now one of the most successful Digital and Tech training companies globally. We partner with over 4,000 clients in over 40+ territories to assist with their digital transformation journey by improving skills or by providing young talent through our apprenticeship programmes. Our offerings include instructor led training, both virtually and in-person.
We partner with the major vendors and accredited bodies such as Microsoft, AWS, Cisco, Comptia, PeopleCert and APM. Complimenting this, our subscription-based platform allows for self-paced, AI-driven learning that is engaging and relevant in the ever-changing digital world. Boasting the largest IT & Digital apprenticeship contract in Scotland, we major in delivering Data, Marketing, Cyber and IT Support apprenticeships through a blend of platform and live learning. We passionately believe that bringing junior talent into businesses and upskill their existing staff members is the route to economic growth in Scotland.
Tell us something unique or interesting about your organisation.
We are due to host our third annual QA Apprenticeship awards in Scotland on 13th March in Glasgow. The purpose of the evening is to celebrate the best young talent in the tech industry in Scotland as well as the amazing employers who give them their chance to shine. Bringing our staff, the apprentices, employers, and parents together to celebrate the best of apprentices always leaves us buzzing to do even more the following year.
What is your biggest achievement as an organisation?
Our biggest achievement as an organisation is creating opportunities for learners to push the boundaries of what they thought was possible in their career. We deliver over 400,000 training days per year, we onboard 4,500 apprentices across the UK each year, and we have tens of thousands of learners using our platform to complete tailored learning paths each year. More locally, we are so proud to support local charities. In 2024 we chose “Give a dog a bone” as our charity partner in Scotland. We raised thousands of pounds whilst also having 20+ volunteers using allocated charity days to go onsite with the charity to support their users.
What prompted you to become a member of ScotlandIS?
We saw all of the great events posted by ScotlandIS staff on Linkedin and had FOMO. It prompted us to call Nicola at ScotlandIS to see how we could get involved. We also feel like we have such a good story to tell in both our Apprenticeship and Corporate Learning offerings.
If we could make progress in one area through our membership of ScotlandIS it would be engaging with businesses, young people, parents, schools and anyone else who will listen that Apprenticeships are not second best to university, they are an alternative that may be a better option in so many instances.
What do you see as the main challenges for the tech industry in the UK and Scotland?
Simply, a lack of collaborative thinking in tackling skills shortages.
We hear from our clients about the impact of talent/skills shortages on their business. The rapidly evolving tech landscape puts new skills in demand and makes others obsolete at a much quicker pace than ever before, making it increasingly difficult for IT teams to keep up. Skills shortages mean there’s a small talent pool out there, with companies battling it out for the best of the best. The Talent Shortage Survey 2025 recently published by Manpower highlights that 76% of employers reported difficulty filling roles due to a lack of skilled talent – whilst on a downward trend (80% in 2024) there’s still arguably a long way to go. Staff retention becomes a huge challenge, particularly for those in the public sector or tech start ups, who report their staff being headhunted – often for higher paying roles, offering salaries they cannot compete with. Those left behind are forced to pick up the workload with a detrimental impact on their job satisfaction and morale.
Businesses we speak with are keen to explore apprenticeships as a longer term fix, building their own talent pipeline from the ground up however, not enough is being done in schools to promote digital and tech subjects as a potential route forward, especially for girls.
Get in touch if you’d like to find out more at ashleigh.gallacher@qa.com or visit QA | Tech Training, Courses & Apprenticeships | .