As part of the “Plan for Jobs” the Department for Education (DfE) are providing £2.5bn for the National Skills Fund (NSF) to help adults build skills for the economy of the future; complementing provision available through Adult Education Budget (AEB). NSF comprises of Skills Bootcamps and the Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs Offer. Skills Bootcamps offer free flexible courses of up to 16 weeks giving people the opportunity to build up sector specific skills and fast track to an interview with a local employer.
The key objectives of skills bootcamps are to:
• Address the needs of employers to fill skills shortage vacancies requiring specialist digital skills and improve business productivity.
• Address the needs of adults to retrain and upskill whatever their starting point. Providing clear line of sight to a new role / opportunity / contract.
• Diversifying the talent pipeline by targeting groups underrepresented in key sectors.
Skills Bootcamps are targeted at all adults aged 19+ who are in-work, self-employed, unemployed, returning to work after a career break and prisoners on temporary release or due to be released within six months. With a focus on specific priority groups. This funding round will open on Tuesday 26th April and close on Monday 6th June at 12 noon. Late applications will not be accepted. Consortia can bid for a minimum of £100,000 and a maximum of £500,000. There is £1.5m of funding available in total. (Funding Period is until the end of March 2023 with the potential to extend until March 2025).
This opportunity is specifically targeted at employers with innovative ideas for digital training that could open up opportunities for people to enter the industry. This could be upskilling the existing workforce and/or developing a pipeline for the wider industry.

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