Student-led workshops to empower Year 12 and Year 13 BTEC students with digital skills and confidence are among 80 schemes to receive government funding to help most vulnerable in communities get online with confidence.
The I-GIVE Digital Inclusion Labs, co-created by King's Business School's I-LEAD Centre for Innovation, Leadership, Education and Development with business school students, have secured £79,095 as part of the government's new Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund.
The Digital Inclusion Fund is part of the government's push to close the digital divide. It will back 80 schemes, reaching thousands of people across the UK from disadvantaged young people to elderly people and the homeless.
Research suggests there are currently 8 million adults in the UK who lack basic digital skills1 and 1.6 million who live offline altogether2. This prevents them from accessing convenient digital government services online, managing their finances on their phone, searching for job opportunities or mastering the essential digital skills for work - like setting up an email account and sharing files.
Through the I-GIVE Digital Inclusion Labs, BTEC Year 12 and Year 13 students in Tower Hamlets, Greenwich and Lewisham will work with near-peers from the business school's undergraduate community to learn digital literacy and online safety, as well as how to navigate educational and employment platforms and access financial and wellbeing services.
"This government is tearing down the barriers to success and making the future work for all, not just the fortunate. Being online is something many of us take for granted, but for millions it could mean a new job opportunity, quicker access to healthcare or a lifeline to the local community. This fund will both empower community organisations to help those most at risk of being left behind get the skills, access and confidence they need - while also informing how we can help even more people in the future.
Minister for Digital Inclusion, Liz Lloyd
We're enormously excited about the Digital Inclusion Labs. The idea was developed with our own students based on several activities they have already run with secondary school and colleges. That experience showed how powerful it is for young people to learn from people who are closer to them in age and this is particularly important when it comes to the digital world, which different generations experience in such different ways. As educators, we are looking forward to being challenged by the students and their near peers, as we navigate the impact of Gen-AI within education and work together.
Denise Hawkes, Professor of Economics Education at King's Business School and co-lead of I-LEAD
- This statistic was sourced from the Essential Digital Skills 2025. The term 'basic digital skills' refers to the 'Foundation Level of digital skills'
- Lloyds Consumer Digital Index 2024
