Executive Summary
- As the UK government announced a ‘fundamental change’ to the education system prioritising technical learning, data centres are a clear choice for these more vocational paths
- CyrusOne recently welcomed 160 sixth form students from London for a day of workshops and insight into the sector, while Datum hosted 30 summer students for a tour of its facilities
- The 2026 National Data Centre Day has a ‘back to school’ motif which encourages companies to arrange school visits and virtual or in-person tours where possible
At the end of July, Prime Minister Andy Burnham unveiled what was described as a ‘fundamental change to the education system’, providing ‘prestigious’ technical educational routes to secondary school pupils.
The soundbite was a good one; ‘whether you choose construction, coding or classics, you’ll get the skills you need and be given the respect you deserve.’ Yet the key line was this: the new technical education pathways, the government noted, will allow areas to shape education around the industries that matter and are growing in their communities.
Data centres, certainly in the South East – London having almost 40% of UK facilities registered on the Data Center Map website – represent a great potential example of the latter. Writing for DPA, Tom Kingham, VP engineering and utilities Europe and Japan at CyrusOne, welcomed the government initiative and argued that data centres presented a ‘fantastic opportunity for vocational education.’
Skills and education are built into CyrusOne’s UK plans ‘from the outset’, Kingham added. The company’s LON6 campus includes a dedicated training centre, and Kingham also noted that earlier this year CyrusOne welcomed 160 sixth form students from Southall for a day of workshops and insight into the data centre sector.
There are other examples of this type of initiative. In July, Datum Datacentres, based in Farnborough, welcomed Good Future Foundation and the 30 students at its AI summer school for a visit. While the overall topic was to explore ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence technologies – as the Foundation puts it, it is aiming to create future builders of AI, not simply consumers – students saw both live and developing parts of the Datum site. The goal, for Datum, was to show students that, behind all AI, digital and cloud interactions are physical systems, engineering and people.
One area which is nascent but beginning to grow is in data centre-specific educational courses. In July, Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges (HRUC) announced the launch of the UK’s first Higher National Certificate programme for data centre operations, and for level 4 data centre engineers. The employer-sponsored programmes, in collaboration with Amazon and delivered by HRUC, will see eligible candidates work within Amazon data centres.
The programmes ‘will provide a pathway for the UK’s future engineers and technicians to gain the technical knowledge they need to succeed’, in the words of Ben Watson, regional data centre operations leader for Amazon Web Services. “These courses will help students gain the skills and confidence to build rewarding careers in this sector, and help to create a strong talent pipeline in the UK.” Alongside this, there is a primarily-online MA in Data Centre Leadership and Management, available at Anglia Ruskin University, albeit a course designed for those already in the industry.
Ultimately, understanding data centres as a distinct vocational pathway will be of benefit – and it is the key theme for 2026’s National Data Centre Day on 12 September. Under the #BacktoSchool motif, the focus is on putting data centres on the curriculum and bringing real understanding to classrooms and homes, with companies encouraged to arrange school visits and virtual or in-person tours of data centres where possible.
Picture credit: Created with Magnific
