How we came to be
Ada is a specialist college which gives students the necessary digital skills to build their potential and help them begin a successful career in tech. We want to inspire our students and help them appreciate that right now there is an unprecedented period of opportunity for digital pioneers.
This is why our story is important. The story of Ada, founded by Mark Smith and Tom Fogden, is one of ambition, hard work and resilience whichever way the dice falls.
The skills crisis
It began with the struggle of a student who was studying Computer Science at A-Level. Mark was mentoring a student who needed additional tuition to help his studies. It soon became apparent that there was a real lack of Computer Science tutors in Greater London, and an alarming mismatch between what students were learning in school and the expectation in industry. Something had to change.
The lightbulb moment
Mark’s mentoring experience inspired the idea for a specialist digital skills college which empowers future generations with the right skills to lead flourishing lives. Ten years after joining the first cohort of Teach First, Mark and Tom’s paths crossed again, literally, as they walked from London Bridge to attend a reunion in 2013. Slowly, the two friends began to mastermind a business plan.
The dream turned real
No dream comes without compromise. Mark and Tom went unpaid for 3 months before Ada received charity status. The best Christmas present ever arrived on Christmas Eve when tech firm, Gamesys, provided initial funding to the cause, allowing Tom and Mark to go full time in early 2014. With borrowed laptops and a whiteboard for ideas, the two co-founders worked round the clock to secure industry backing and financial support.
The turning points
The constant Boris biking, tube hopping, coffee inhaling and pitching around London all paid off when Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deloitte, IBM, Gamesys, King and the Aldridge Foundation all agreed to be Ada’s founding partners. To round off the year, No.10 hosted a roundtable for Ada before the Prime Minister officially announced the College in December 2014. In addition to private donations, the team raised over £31m from central Government and the Greater London Authority for the college buildings and equipment.
Opening our doors
Among various options around London, Tottenham’s resilience and diversity proved the perfect location for Ada’s first campus. We converted a former Haringey Council job centre into a modern, spacious learning environment. As the building works finished, student inductions took place at the Here East tech hub in the Olympic Park stadium. The Broad Lane campus was officially opened by Robert Halfon, the Minister of State for Education, in September 2016.
Launching Ada Manchester
In 2020 Ada’s expansion to the North West was launched with the support of Mayor Andy Burnham and we are excited to now also offer digital skills courses and degree apprenticeships to tech talent in Manchester and the North West. Ada Manchester welcomed its first cohort of Digital Innovation Apprentices in February 2021 – all but one of whom are now successfully employed as software developers.
Two new homes
Enrolments at Ada’s London sixth form grew fourfold since the college first opened in Tottenham Hale and in Sept 2023 the team moved to a brand new campus near Victoria: Ada’s new six storey home includes a state of the art lecture theatre, 27 tech enabled teaching spaces, break out zones where students can collaborate with industry partners, and dedicated spaces for quiet study and careers counselling; as well as a sports hall, café and stunning roof terrace.
And only a few months later, in January 2024, we were excited to also open the doors of our brand-new permanent campus in Manchester Ancoats – dubbed the ‘first industrial suburb’ and now one of the city’s most vibrant cultural and business districts.
The new building can support even greater numbers on the pathway to successful careers in tech – with space for 1,300 learners a year, a wide range of multi-purpose spaces for teaching, showcasing collaborative work, practical hardware lab and quiet study.
Manchester Sixth Form
And the evolution and expansion of Ada doesn’t stop: our team is currently preparing for the first 6th form intake at Manchester in Sept ’26! Watch this space for more updates and how the Ada story continues to educate and empower the next generation of diverse digital talent.