Horizon Three: Braided Careers

The KPE4 Charitry Trust takes a three-horizon strategic approach in our mission to invest in the lives of young people, empowering them to reach their potential.

Horizon One aims to improve access and outcomes for young people growing up in one of Scotland's most disadvantaged areas, Pilton & Muirhouse. Horizon Two then looks to scale this impact, while Horizon Three focuses on initiatives that drive structural and systematic change.

To date, our blogs have focused primarily on our Horizon One activity and the amazing core charities we work with. However, with the school holidays coming to an end and a new academic term starting this month, now seems the ideal time to shine a light on one of our key Horizon Three initiatives - the computer science braided careers pilot.

Launched last summer in partnership with the University of Glasgow and Skyscanner, the first cohort of student teachers are now embarking on the first term of their two-year probationary teaching roles, while also progressing their tech careers with Skyscanner. They are leading the way for the second cohort of the pilot, who started their one-year PDGE at Glasgow University earlier this month. We wish them all the very best of luck for these exciting new career paths!

This pilot has been created in response to a growing shortage of Computing Science teachers in Scotland. In 2025-26, just 16 people accepted places on PDGE Computing Science programmes, against a national target of 52. With fewer people entering the profession, and many existing teachers approaching retirement, access to Computing Science teaching is becoming increasingly limited for many young people.

To encourage more professionals into teaching, the braided career model was developed. In this approach, individuals work across both sectors simultaneously, offering several advantages: 

• The salary gap is reduced by maintaining a presence in industry. 

• Technical skills stay current and relevant (also benefiting the young people taught by them.

• Individuals benefit from progression and motivational opportunities in both careers. 

  
  

Crucially, it reframes teaching not as an exit from industry, but as a complementary and equally valuable strand of a professional career. 

KPE4 is also funding the evaluation of the pilot programme, with the hope that, if successful, it could be applied more widely in the future.

Read more about the pilot programme here.