The government’s skills bootcamps are set to be expanded into every region of the country, it has been announced.
Hours after prime minister Boris Johnson gave a speech on the importance of levelling up, the Department for Education revealed further measures “to boost the nation’s skills, level up opportunities and get more people into better-paid jobs”.
The bootcamps offer flexible training of up to 16 weeks, and are already running in six regions in England. The DfE says the expansion to all nine regions will provide an extra 16,000 fully funded places for adults to upskill or retrain.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “No matter where you are from, everyone should have the chance to get the skills needed to get a good job - whether that’s to launch a new career or upskill in their industry. We have put skills right at the heart of our ambitious reforms, to make sure we can build back better from the pandemic, empowering people to get the skills they need to build the life they want.
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“Today marks the next vital step in our mission to level up opportunities by investing in skills, investing in lifelong learning and investing in communities so that people can thrive and prosper - wherever they live.”
More skills bootcamps to help ‘levelling up’
The camps will include a range of digital and technical training including in green skills, such as solar energy installation, sustainable agriculture, nuclear energy and green transport, along with coding and software development.
Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges said: “The Department for Education set out some ambitious plans in the Skills for Jobs White Paper to improve the way we meet the education and skills needs of half the population and ensure employers have the skills they need.
“The current funding and accountability systems can sometimes be an obstacle to these goals, so we welcome the open way in which the Department is consulting on reforms and look forward to working through the details over the summer.”
The government has also launched a consultation on the future of the National Skills Fund, which supports adults to upskill and retrain through skills bootcamps, and access to almost 400 free courses through the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. A consultation on plans to simplify funding for adult skills training has also been launched.
