UK's Education Secretary to back computer science in schools, more students should learn coding

Michael Gove, Education Secretary for the UK's Department for Education, has publicly backed a skills review co-authored by Ian Livingstone and agrees that the digital skills gap affecting UK games development studios can be curtailed by supporting computer science as part of the national curriculum.

According to Grove: “One of the problems we have had is the ICT curriculum in the past has been written for a subject that is changing rapidly all the time. I think what we should have is computer science in the future, and how it fits into the curriculum is something that we need to talk to scientists, to experts in coding and to young people about.”

The skills review, published in February, outlined 20 recommendations which, if implemented, would close the education gap in UK schools and provide students the skills needed for jobs of a digital nature in the future.

"The Government looks forward to working with [the games industry], educators and others to develop an attractive computer science offering for schools, so that students are able to develop the rigorous skills needed – not only to support these industries but also to ensure a digitally literate citizenry," read the response per Develop.