Our course is split into three parts: A full-time intensive, a part time mentoring programme, and an end of course assessment. To be offered a place on the government funded programme, you must be ready to complete all three parts.
In the first part of the programme, you will spend eight weeks programming at the edge of your abilities. This is full-time in-person at our campus in Greenwich.
In the second part of the program, we ask that you return to us for at least a year, one afternoon per week, ideally in person, from 2 pm until the end of the day. During these sessions, we focus on two things. Firstly, we read and discuss papers. Secondly, we work on our side projects. Ideally, you will find one or two community members interested in working on a project with you. Together, you will build a project at the limits of your understanding.
In the final part of the programme, you will prepare and submit an end of course assessment. The assessment has three parts: A project report, a professional discussion and a written examination. We will support you with preparation in the months prior to the assessment.
Our course is primarily funded through the apprenticeship levy. While apprenticeships may bring to mind carpentry or plumbing, our course is quite different. This is a level 7 apprenticeship in artificial intelligence, equivalent to a master's degree in AI. However, unlike the academic focus of an MSc, our programme focuses on industry skills and building scalable systems.
The apprenticeship levy is a tax that is paid by every UK employer. This tax goes into a national funding pot which can then be used by every UK company to pay for apprenticeship training for their new and existing employees. Apprenticeships are available in skills deemed important for the UK economy, and unsurprisingly, AI is one such skill.
The takeaway here is that there is a four-way relationship between you, The Machine Learning Institute, your employer, and the government. Your employer (existing or new) decides that they want you trained in AI, asks us to train you, and the government pays us to train you. Your employer doesn't need to pay for the training, but they must pay you at least a stipend (and ideally your full salary) while you train with us.
In short, if you already have a job, you need to convince your employer to send you on our training. If you don't have a job or your current employer is unwilling, you need to find a new employer who is keen for you to train with us. Typically, students find their own job. Occasionally, we help our students find work through our network of employers. To be accepted on the programme, you will need to find an employer, have your own company, or have experience that closely aligns with the needs of our network of employers.
If you run a business with an AI function, we welcome your application. Bear in mind you can't do our programme if you are working by yourself as a sole trader or you run a one person tech consultancy.
Apprenticeships have eligibility criteria. In simple terms, you are eligible if you are a UK citizen who has been living in the UK or Europe for the last three years, or you are not a UK citizen but have been living in the UK for the last three years, and you have the right to remain in the UK. You are also eligible if you have refugee or asylum status, and in this case, it doesn't matter how long you have been in the UK. View the full eligibility criteria.