GovWire

Overview

Skills Bootcamps are free courses for adults typically lasting up to 16 weeks, available across a range of sectors. They help people develop priority skills that are in demand at both local and national level.

They are developed by training providers in partnership with employers.

Significant investment has been committed by the government to scale up Skills Bootcamps from 2022 to 2025.

Who can apply

Skills Bootcamps can be delivered by suppliers who have qualified onto the dynamic purchasing system (DPS), including:

• independent training providers (ITPs)
• further education (FE) colleges
• employers

You can only deliver Skills Bootcamps if youre successful in winning a contract as part of a commercial procurement. Youll need to apply to qualify onto the DPS and then bid for a contract.

As part of this process, youll need to demonstrate your previous experience of working closely with employers.

Whats involved

Skills Bootcamps provide flexible training. This is typically at levels 3 to 5 or equivalent (medium to higher level technical skills) and level 2 in some sectors.

You can offer them online, face-to-face or through a blended approach.

Currently Skills Bootcamps are available in areas such as:

• digital, for example, digital marketing or coding
• construction
• logistics (HGV driving)
• engineering
• green skills, for example, solar energy or agriculture technology

We may award contracts for Skills Bootcamps in additional sector categories in the future.

Responsibilities include:

• working with employers to develop the training
• making sure each learner typically receives a minimum of 60 teaching hours
• securing learners a new job, responsibilities or work
• submitting monthly performance management information
• completing an individualised learner record (ILR) for each learner
• securing learners a job interview at the end of the course

Application process

We use a competitive procurement process to award contracts for Skills Bootcamps. To win a contract youll first need to apply to qualify onto the DPS. Once on the DPS, youll need to bid for a contract to deliver a specific Skills Bootcamp.

Well score your bid on its quality and on the price you will charge.

If youre successful, youll get payments at set milestones during your contract. Your contract will show the payment milestones and how much youll get.

How to apply

Youll need to apply to qualify onto the DPS. This system will allow suppliers to compete for Skills Bootcamps contracts.

The DPS allows us to react quickly when local and national skills gaps are identified. This year, weve already run competitions in:

• digital
• construction
• HGV driving
• sales marketing
• engineering and manufacturing
• business administration
• education and early years

We do not have a confirmed date for when we will launch further rounds of competitions. Sign up for alerts to find out about any future opportunities.

Skills Bootcamps are also procured and delivered via local areas. These are separate to the DfE call-off competitions. If you want to deliver a Skills Bootcamp in this way, contact your mayoral combined authority, local authority or local enterprise partnership.

Joining the Skills Bootcamps DPS

1. Register on the Department for Education (DfE) eTendering Portal website Jaggaer. To be able to access the DPS, youll need to be registered on Jaggaer. Make sure you register your organisation as a supplier.

2. Once youre registered as a supplier, youll be able to apply to qualify onto the DPS. To apply, log into Jaggaer and search for Project_7693.

3. We aim to process applications within 30 working days. Only suppliers whose application has been approved will be able to bid.

You can access Skills Bootcamps DPS market engagement material including guidelines for joining the DPS through Jaggaer. Log into Jaggaer and search for Project_6939.