Code First Girls – a provider of free coding courses for women in the UK and around the world – has announced it has taught more than 200,000 women tech skills for free.

Starting out in 2012 as a free, part-time course to get female graduates interested in coding, Code First Girls has evolved into a community of coders, instructors and mentors who provide free coding courses for women in the UK and globally.

According to research by Tech Nation, only 26% of the tech workforce are women.

The representation of women in IT roles has improved in recent years – from 15% in 2020 to 19% in 2023. But even if this trend continues, says BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, it will take another 283 years to match the 48% of women in the wider workforce.

Trade association techUK estimates that three million more people with digital skills will be needed to fill the skills gaps in the UK’s tech sector by 2025.

Code First Girls aims to address both the gender and skills gap in the tech industry by providing...