Education
Educational Opportunities
Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad) is a global consistent education initiative, that is flexible enough to be locally relevant. It's portfolio that is made available for free to all eligible organisations, can then be used in multiple scenarios according to the needs.
NetAcad provides several services like a learning management system, online support, course portfolio, among others, and products like Packet Tracer. All of these are available free of charge.
Schools
Historically, schools that have been part of Networking Academy (NetAcad), typically offer IT Essentials, and some CCNA, two of the broadly adopted courses.
With the evolution of NetAcad's portfolio, several new courses were added to the category is has made several Exploratory courses available. These courses are easier to adopt, as they don't have specific qualification requirements, Teachers (or Instructors as they are called within NetAcad) can use the courses to teach their students. Examples of these Exploratory courses are Get Connected, Introduction to Cybersecurity, and Introduction to IoT.
Further Education
Higher Education
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 in England can become affiliated with NetAcad, as long as they are happy to sign a specific Memorandum of Understanding with Cisco. 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 Networking Academy courses, as any other student.
Non Traditional
Networking Academy partners with less traditional institutions that are not traditional Education establishments. A few Social Enterprises, Foundations, and Charities 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 Networking Academy to help develop relevant skills relevant to the market.
There are also interesting partnerships with Libraries Services from Councils across the UK and Ireland. Visit this page to learn more about how Libraries can use NetAcad.