A key priority for Sunderland’s Smart City team is ensuring that everyone has the ability to use the internet and online services. We want to help everyone develop the digital confidence for everyday life, education, employment, and personal growth. In this document we share some of the many existing tools accessible free of charge, to support you on your journey into the digital world.
iDEA stands for Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award. It is an international award-winning programme that helps people develop and demonstrate digital, enterprise and employability skills for free. Use iDEA to learn vital skills for work and life through short interactive online modules.
Learn My Way is a free online learning tool for beginners, helping you develop digital skills to make the most of the online world.
If you’re new to the digital world, it can be difficult to know where to start: from choosing a device to getting connected. Barclays Digital Wings offers courses on digital foundation skills, communicating, skills for work, how to shop and make payments, problem solve and handling personal information.
Use Lloyds Bank Academy to learn new skills and use online tools to be more productive at work and gain essential life skills. This site provides the essentials to going online, along with support to secure a job and develop work skills.
Sunderland City Council’s Learning and Skills Service aims to help Sunderland residents improve their skills and work prospects.
Lloyds Bank and We Are Group (formerly We Are Digital) run a free digital skills helpline for anyone who needs dedicated support to get online. Call 0345 222 0333 or visit We Are Group to find out more.
Explore free learning opportunities via GCFGlobal to develop skills you need. With over 2,000+ lessons, covering 200 topics, such as technology, work, core skills, reading and maths.
Explore information about volunteering as a Tech Mate via Sunderland City Council.
Volunteer as a Digital Champion with Barclays Digital Wings.
Digital Unite help organisations run digital inclusion programmes by providing access to 400+ how to guides, which cover a host of digital topics written by subject matter experts. You can also access new Easy Read Guides.
Soft Skills Learning Pathway: Skills you’ll learn include: decision making; teamwork; persuading others; communication and listening skills. It will take up to two days to complete.
Digital Literacy: Skills you’ll learn include: working with devices (computers, tablets and mobile phones); using the internet; digital security; getting started with Microsoft 365. It will take up to half a day to complete.
Entrepreneurship Learning Pathway: Skills you’ll learn include: testing your business idea; creating a business plan; finance essentials. It will take up to one day to complete.
Admin Professional: Skills you’ll learn include: communication; writing; time management and must have software skills. It will take up to two days to complete.
Business Analysis: Skills you’ll learn include: agile principles; requirements; techniques; modelling; managing projects. It will take up to three days to complete.
Data Analysis: Skills you’ll learn include: data gathering and cleaning; queries; data sets and accurate visualisations. It will take up to two days to complete.
Generative Artificial Intelligence: Skills you’ll learn include: AI models; ethics and exploring the impact. It will take up to half a day to complete.
Project Manager: Skills you’ll learn include: budgets; communication; risk and stakeholders. It will take up to three days to complete.
Software Development: Skills you’ll learn include: programming concepts; collections; external code and fixing bugs. It will take up to one day to complete.
System Administration: Skills you’ll learn include: operating systems; servers; basic networking; cloud administration; backup; recovery and security. It will take up to one day to complete
Lloyds Bank Academy’s Business Hub helps business learn new skills and use technology to improve productivity, increase turnover and understand customers. Learn how to design a sustainable and customer focused strategy, become a more effective leader, design your website and digital channels, tell your story online, manage finances, work productively, product development and sales and keep your business safe and secure.
Use BT Business Skills to grow your business with the help of people who’ve been there and done it. Learn new skills, find a mentor, or just meet like-minded people – all for free.
Media Trust supports charities and underrepresented communities across the UK to build their communications skills through innovative training, volunteering and content creation programmes.
Organisations can register on iDEA as an Organiser, and set up virtual classrooms for you to co-ordinate and deliver sessions which support the Learners’ experience.
Scratch is the world’s largest free coding community for kids. Create stories, games and animations.
Use Raspberry Pi to start coding and computing now by accessing100s of free coding and computing projects with step-by-step instructions.
Plus, use the CoderDojo community to explore resources, events, training and get answers to your questions.
Use Tech Talent Engine to find a tech job in the North East, unlock your career potential and make a difference in today’s digital world.
Tech Startup Sunderland can support you to start your tech business in Sunderland. Tap into experts, networks and resources to give your tech business the best possible start.
If you are over the age of 19 and looking for a brand-new career you can take your digital skills to the next level by completing a course at Sunderland College. Courses last six weeks, training is free to those working, recently unemployed within the last 12 months or looking for work in the UK. You don’t need to be an expert in the subject, but you do need to have a good level of digital skills already.
Study an online distance learning course at the University of Sunderland from anywhere in the world. Learn alongside an existing job or commitment, or use the increased flexibility to pursue personal interests.
Through Microsoft Learn, you can develop new skills and discover Microsoft products with step-by-step guidance. The site enables you to sort by products you’d like to learn more about, such as Office, Teams or Power Platform. Or, if you’re undecided you can search by Roles, such as Parent/Guardian, School Leader, or Student. Plus, explore useful resources to Get On in your digital career.
Explore career paths, with over 700k job listings seeking candidates with Microsoft technical skills.
The Careers Service have developed The Skills Toolkit which provides you with access to free courses to help you learn new skills or change jobs. Courses available relate to maths; computer essentials; personal growth and wellbeing; personal growth and wellbeing; professional development; business and finance; digital design and marketing; computer science and coding.
The training and certification hub AWS Skill Builder provides a learning centre to build in-demand cloud skills, covering a mixture of free digital training and training only available with a subscription.
Google Digital Garage provides access to online digital skills courses in everything from marketing to coding and beyond. Examples include: Get a business online, and fundamentals of digital marketing.
Produced November 2024. Sunderland Smart City resources may include links to external organisations and websites. We bear no responsibility for the actions, content, or services provided by these organisations, and the inclusion of these links does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of their products or services.