Computing & IT

The Computing Department is a vital part of the college and we have been preparing students to work in our fast moving industry for nearly a quarter of a century. Our job is to help you to become a computing professional and we do this in three main ways:

• Our courses give you the most relevant skills, while broadening your employment options
• Our excellent industry contacts give you the chance to use that knowledge in real work situations
• Our expectations of you will teach you what is expected in a professional workplace.

Nescot offers a wide range of courses and pathways, including degrees and higher education, and our renowned Cisco Microsoft, Apple and Cyberoam Academies put your learning at the leading edge of professional development.

Our Staff

Our staff are highly qualified teaching professionals and all have extensive industry experience across a variety of disciplines. From programming systems analysts for international futures trading houses and web design to control and optimisation and systems analysis, electrical engineering and satellite communications, our tutors are skilled working professionals, in demand as IT consultants to top firms like Siemens and organisations like the RAF.

Our Facilities

As a Nescot computing student you will enjoy two fully equipped Cisco labs plus an open lab with your own network and servers to maintain and configure and a virtualised environment for networking and computing. All our teaching rooms have the latest whiteboard technology and multi-media setups, plus we have electronic and engineering labs with acid baths, three dedicated hardware and software configuration workshops with a full range of hardware to rig and derig, specialist electrical circuit design software, multisims and satellite tracking equipment and even telecoms equipment with our own telephone network.

Working with Other Departments and Organisations

The computing department works extremely closely with the top players in software, hardware and networking. Microsoft are working with us on programming and games development for the Xbox while Oracle is our partner organisation for database programming. The department also has a historic 12-year relationship with Cisco, as the first college to be granted Cisco Academy status. Nescot is also the holder of Apple, Microsoft and Cyberoam Academy status. This means our expert tutors can devise a programme of professional accreditation to fit alongside your existing course at the minimum of extra cost and disruption, to dramatically improve your value in the workplace.

The department also has established links with companies like CompTia and Cicilion and works closely with the University of Surrey, the Open University and Birmingham City University.

Key industry figures from organisations like Cisco, Eidos and Cicilion regularly visit to give industry updates and to scout for talent.

We regularly win medals in World Skills and run Employer forums and business breakfasts to ensure our students are given every opportunity to shine in our sector.

The campus at Nescot is the hub for all this activity and we are especially fortunate that our industry partnerships afford us the best in cutting edge technology for our students.

Our partnership with Microsoft means that all our students have access to top of the range software free from the company.

Industry links and high spec gear aside what really distinguishes our department is the quality of our teaching. Informed by highly commercial awareness our tutors are also extremely high calibre teaching professionals. We operate an open door policy for our students and class sizes are kept small, to give each student maximum attention from tutors. Courses are delivered at times to suit busy working professionals and tutors are also available by email outside teaching hours.

Your Career

Previous students are working at the highest levels of the industry in specialised consultancy or in exciting roles like developing audio visual technology for internationally televised live events. The combination of Nescot’s facilities with the industry knowledge and teaching excellence of our staff will give you the edge you need to succeed in this fast paced, financially rewarding sector.