10,000 tech placements: the three-year total, the eight firms and the nine addresses for schools

In the early hours of 21 October 2026 the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced 10,000 work experience placements across Britain's digital and tech sector. It sits inside the Digital and Technologies Jobs Plan and the TechFirst programme. Here is what was actually promised, and where to write.

How many placements, and over what period?

Ten thousand opportunities over three years. The release puts it as "opening up 10,000 opportunities over the next three years" — a three-year total, not an annual intake.

Which companies are offering them?

The Digital and Tech Skills Deal partners are named in full: ARM, Cisco, AtkinsRealis, Cognizant, IBM, Kainos, Microsoft, Qinetiq. Eight employers, from processor architecture to defence engineering.

Why now?

Because of two numbers sitting next to each other. First: Skills England, in its Sector Skills Needs Assessment — Digital and Technologies of June 2026, counts 800,000 digital and tech roles needing filling by 2035. Second: nearly 1 million young people are not in employment, education or training.

Secretary of State Lisa Nandy summed up the gap in one line: "Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not."

How does a school join?

By emailing its regional TechFirst partner. The addresses are published in the release in full:

North East, Yorkshire and the Humber — TechFirst@rtcnorth.co.uk
North West and East Midlands — TechFirst@in4group.co.uk
West Midlands — TechFirst@digitalinnovators.co.uk
East of England — TechFirst@techeducators.co.uk
London and South East — TechFirst@stem.org.uk
South West — TechFirst@techspark.co
Wales — Wales@cyberfirstschools.co.uk
Northern Ireland — TechFirst@belfastmet.ac.uk
Scotland — TechFirst@EducationScotland.gov.scot

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For parents this is more practical than waiting for an announcement: the school applies itself, and a letter to the careers lead can be what starts it.

What should an employer do?

Companies wanting to join the Skills Deal register through the TechFirst Community Sign Up form. A separate strand covers placements for 14 to 16 year olds, and for those employers are directed to their local Careers Hub. Prime Minister Andy Burnham called on employers to open a further 200,000 placements for that age group; the government's wider target is 20,000 entry-level roles a year.

Is there a separate programme for women?

Yes. TechFirst Women covers 300 women across the UK with mentoring, skills development and matching to live vacancies. It is open at any career stage, including career changers and returners. The goal is that by March 2027 participants are in paid roles lasting at least six months. Registration is at techfirstwomen.com.

Are the 10,000 placements paid?

The release does not say. The only explicit mention of pay is the TechFirst Women target of paid roles. For the 10,000 work experience placements themselves the terms are not set out, so that is the first thing to establish with the individual employer.

What else was announced the same day

TechFirst is now set to reach 1 million schoolchildren by 2028, a year ahead of the original plan, with 400,000 of them from the least advantaged schools. The Ada platform becomes the main schools platform from the end of the 2026/27 academic year, replacing Issac, and serves 11 to 18 year olds.

Baroness Jacqui Smith, the skills minister, said in the same release: "Every young person deserves the chance to build a career they're proud of."

The short version

Ten thousand placements over three years, eight partner companies, nine regional email addresses for schools, and a separate 300-place programme for women with a March 2027 target. Pay terms for the main body of placements are not disclosed.