The largest sector of local employment in the Peterborough region is the business and professional fields, with the largest number of jobs advertised in sales and marketing. Local employers have identified significant local skills gaps and therefore an inability to recruit locally. To address this we have collaborated closely with industry to design course content and assessment to ensure that students are equipped with industry-standard skills to enable them to compete effectively in the digital marketing and communications job sector upon graduation.At the academic level, students will be introduced to a critical and analytical framework where they are encouraged to look beyond traditional analysis to consider the social and environmental elements in the networked world, to consider how the online world has changed the face of marketing and to create their own online identity for their professional development.Our collaboration has specifically identified a need for graduates with practical knowledge of both content management and technical skills in digital marketing, as well as an enhanced business and commercial awareness, and practical skills within areas such as project management and social media marketing. The capstone module in level 6 is an opportunity to bring all of their practical skills and competencies and academic knowledge together into a traditional dissertation, or a more practical project involving a digital artefact.Employability and personal development modules are included at each level of the course. This culminates in the Professional Placement module in the final year, which requires the student to engage in a work placement, either during term time or over the long summer vacation.The course incorporates professional competencies by mapping directly to the Certificate in Professional Marketing (Digital Marketing) of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).The courses at University Centre Peterborough are studied in smaller class sizes compared with other universities, a typical class size is under 20 students.Please note - it is possible that this course may become an approved Higher Technical Qualification.