Education

Educational Opportunities

View this short 10 minute video for an overview of the Cisco Networking Academy including:

The Cisco Networking Academy is a global consistent education initiative that is flexible enough to be locally relevant. Its portfolio, that is made available for free to all eligible organisations, can then be used in multiple scenarios according to the Academy needs.

The Cisco Networking Academy provides several services like a learning management system, online support, course portfolio, and products like Packet Tracer. All of these are available free of charge.

Schools

Historically, schools that have been part of the Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad), typically offer IT Essentials, and some CCNA, which are two of the broadly adopted courses. 

With the evolution of NetAcad's portfolio, several new courses were added to the Explore cohort. These courses are easier to adopt, as they don't have specific qualification requirements. Teachers (or Instructors as they are called in NetAcad) can use the courses to teach their students without prior accreditation. Examples of these Explore courses are Get Connected, Introduction to Cybersecurity, and Introduction to IoT.


Further Education

Many FE Colleges offer IT Essentials, and some CCNA, which are two of the broadly adopted courses. With the emergence of the new Digital T-Level qualification, the NetAcad team have mapped NetAcad content to the T-Levels curriculum. For more information, on T-Levels and also curricula in Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, please visit the respective regional pages under "Education".


Higher Education

Cisco Networking Academy based programmes exist within undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the UK. Many Computing and Network Engineering programmes fully incorporate NetAcad courses and certifications within their degrees. 

Some Further Education colleges also offer higher education programmes in partnership with different universities. It is worth checking with your local college to discover if this is available.

Apprenticeship Providers

Apprenticeship Providers can become affiliated with the Cisco Networking Academy. These are typically for-profit training companies, that otherwise would not be accepted as part of the programme, but given the nature of the education they provide, Cisco have decided to open an exception with these providers. Apprentices can then access Cisco Networking Academy courses, as any other student.

Non Traditional

The Cisco Networking Academy partners with several less traditional institutions, i.e. institutions that are not traditional education establishments. These include a few social enterprises, foundations, and charities that have created their own Cisco Academies.

In the UK, there is a long lasting partnership with the Ministry of Justice in the context of Prison ICT Academy (PICTA), an education initiative managed by the National Offenders Management Service (NOMS). Through this partnership, prisons can adopt the Cisco Networking Academy to help develop relevant skills relevant to the market.

There are also interesting partnerships with Library Services across the UK and Ireland. Visit this page to learn more about how Libraries can use NetAcad.