Skills Bootcamps - Are they really the key to filling the worrying skills gap?

What are Skills Bootcamps?

Skills Bootcamps are one part of the national skills fund, a ￡2.5 billion initiative to help adults gain skills quickly to improve their job prospects.

Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks for adults aged 19 or over who are either in work, self-employed, recently unemployed or returning to work after a break.

They can give employees the opportunity to gain skills that will support their progression within their existing workplace. Alternatively, for those out of work, it can give people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, and fast track them to an interview with a local employer.

The programme has been developed by the Government as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Plan for Jobs, in partnership with employers, providers and local authorities, to help people develop the skills that are in demand.

The Aims of Skills Bootcamps

Since 2020, the UK Treasury has poured more than ￡100million into Skills Bootcamps, to provide the skills in demand, from Artificial Intelligence and data science to lorry driving and construction. So what are the aims of these Skills Bootcamps?

• To deliver flexible training programmes lasting up to 16 weeks, based on employer/sector in-demand skills needs.
• To address the needs of adults (19+) who are full-time and part-time employed, unemployed, returning to work after a break or self-employed, and provide individuals with wider access to opportunities to retrain or formalise their skills.
• To address the needs of employers and the wider economy, to deliver targeted interventions to meet demand to fill vacancies and drive productivity.
• To help fill vacancies and bring individuals closer to better jobs (including those currently in employment), by linking them with line of sight to a job/different role, additional responsibilities, or new opportunities/contracts.

Investing in People and Why Businesses Should Take Notice

The success of Skills Bootcamps in helping to strengthen the UK's future is heavily contingent on the level of involvement from businesses. At present, however, not enough organisations are devoting the time needed to upskill or reskill staff, with research finding that nearly a third (30%) of workplaces don’t offer employees the opportunity to learn new skills or invest time in development, research and training.

Although there may be a number of reasons for this, research indicates that ‘a lack of budget’ was considered by businesses to be the largest barrier for workplaces allowing staff to spend time on development.

Skills Bootcamps are helping to solve this problem by enabling companies to take advantage of the considerable state investment in the initiative, meaning organisations are given more affordable access to industry-led training.

Opening Opportunities for Individuals

The advantages of Skills Bootcamps are not merely limited to businesses, but also for the people who work for them to upskill or reskill.

For individual workers, having access to relevant training could, for example, enable them to secure more responsibility within their current role, or a promotion to a more senior position. As this training is often delivered to workers in the form of a company programme, the burden on paying for professional development is removed for the individual.

However, it isn't only those who are currently in employment who stand to benefit from the growth of Skills Bootcamps, but those who are in education but struggling to gain access to relevant learning.

What Do Key Leaders Think about Skills Bootcamps?

Part of the appeal of Skills Bootcamps is that their conciseness means learners don't have to forgo too much in earnings or put their lives on hold, compared with other learning routes.

“They’re an exciting addition to the skills landscape... they bridge the skills gaps in a more flexible way” says Simon Ashworth, director of policy for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers.

Skills Bootcamps are part of a broader move towards what the UK government calls “modular learning”. Its aim is to shift the default for adult learning away from the three-year degree and towards more short courses in targeted areas.

However, whether Skills Bootcamps are the most effective way to meet the skills gap isn't so clear. The most recent Department for Education evaluation points to limited success, with 20% of participants dropping out and only 54% of those who did complete their course getting a new or better job.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:

"These Skills Bootcamps will help us to continue building a better London for everyone, giving unemployed adults or those in low-income work a chance to learn or retrain and then go on to get good, future-proof jobs and careers... This additional funding will help even more... to access free training and gain the skills they need to succeed in key industries of our economy."

So, what are your thoughts on Skills Bootcamps?

It’s heartening to see government recognition through Skills Bootcamps that learners can top up their existing skills in ways directly relevant to fast-evolving employer needs. In this sense, Skills Bootcamps are one solution to addressing post-16 education’s continuing challenge of providing obvious routes for progression.

Skills Bootcamps content can also be relied upon to be up to date. In many areas the speed of technological change can be very rapid. This means that by the time a learner has completed a medium-term course of study for two years, new areas of priority may have emerged. Skills Bootcamps can close that gap in knowledge.

Skills Bootcamps have become one of the most sought-after methods to obtain skills required in the current times.

For more information, visit: Skills Bootcamps - Skills for Life

withsource has supported clients across multiple Skills Bootcamp competitions to date. If you are interested in finding out more about the upcoming opportunities and need support, we would be glad to help.

Contact us today at [email protected] or call at 0161 521 5200.