StepEx, the London-based fintech that allows students to pay university fees with a share of their future earnings, has acquired IronHack, Northcoders and Le Wagon as clients.
The partnership signals a significant move into the UK from the two largest European boot camps – the Spanish tech school IronHack, and the French coding institution Le Wagon.
The bootcamps, cited as “prestigious” and “acclaimed” by StepEx’s founder, will join the group’s list of institutes offering ‘future earnings agreements’ to their students.
Access to education
The fintech group, founded in 2017, was created to give more students the opportunity to attend higher education despite their economic background. The amount payable to a qualification is based upon the initial earnings a student achieves with that qualification.
Algorithms are used to reliably predict, verify and collect an applicant’s future earnings through data analytics.
“With many traditional lending schemes becoming less accessible, debt is a poor solution to this problem, and lending restrictions limit the types of candidates who can apply,” commented founder of StepEx, Daniel George.
“Outcome-based finance fixes this and opens up enormous economic opportunities for people who would otherwise be priced out of the kind of courses that unlock significantly higher earning potential.”
I have been successfully hired as a Full Stack Developer and StepEx was instrumental in this process. StepEx has been invaluable in helping me change my career. From supporting me with funding for my Software Development boot camp to networking and support in finding my first role – Katrina Harradine, Makers graduate and stack developer at Revmo
This January saw StepEx expand their platform to undergraduate degrees, kicked off by the University of Buckingham and followed by Cranfield University, London Business School, INSEAD and Cambridge University.
“Our partnership with StepEx means we will be able to offer more students the financial support they need to get started on acquiring new skills. As the demand for our tech bootcamps continues to rise here in the UK, we are excited to now be able to ensure students from all backgrounds are given the opportunity to change their career path,” said Gabriel Pizzolante, UK manager at Ironhack.
‘Future skills unit’
The partnership follows the release of the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper released earlier this month, which outlined the Education Secretary’s plan for a new ‘future skills unit’. This unit will look at data and evidence of where skills gaps exist, considering the need for easier access for students to learn new skills and pursue their desired careers.
“We are pleased to see that the UK Government is putting emphasis on the importance of upskilling in their recent Levelling Up White Paper and with the move from the big players in the IT boot camp world moving to the UK, we are excited to see what the partnerships can achieve in the UK,” said George of the new plans.
You might also like: How digital resources can assist SEN and international university students