Powering up training with Skills Bootcamps

Pictured: EMCCA Skills Bootcamps Wave 5 providers

In the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), a key part of our devolution deal is our work on employment and skills. We work with local partners to ensure our residents and young people have access to a wealth of opportunities to improve their personal and professional growth by developing skills to remove barriers and to progress into good and highly skilled jobs or an apprenticeship. Our Skills Bootcamps programme is a key example of that.

Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses that can last up to 16 weeks, fully funded through the Department for Education’s National Skills Fund and delivered by EMCCA in collaboration with our partners. They form part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, helping everyone gain ‘Skills for Life‘.

Skills Bootcamps aim to address the needs of employers and the wider economy, to deliver targeted interventions to meet short to medium term demand to fill vacancies and drive productivity. They will help fill medium to higher level vacancies and bring individuals closer to better jobs, by linking them with line of sight to a job or a different role, additional responsibilities, or new opportunities or contracts.

Providers across the region gathered in Derby earlier this month to launch Wave 5 of the Skills Bootcamps.

Since launching in 2021, Skills Bootcamps have made a significant impact by offering free, flexible, and sector-specific training to residents in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire through four waves of provision. EMCCA has received nearly £5 million from DfE for our Wave 5 Skills Bootcamps and delivery of Wave 5 will include new areas such as leadership and management, green, and digital skills. These areas reflect the high demand from local employers. Our provision will include accessible training options for different categories of learners, including those returning to work or switching careers, and is aimed at supporting local businesses in our community with a skilled talent pool.

Who can attend Skills Bootcamps?

If you are 19+, unemployed or self-employed, you can attend Skills Bootcamps to learn the skills you need to find a job or get new contracts.

Employers who are looking for an affordable way to develop their existing staff or recruit qualified new employees can also benefit from Skills Bootcamps. Employers are required to contribute to the cost of the Skills Bootcamps if they want to send their employees to the Skills Bootcamps training, and the government funds the rest. Employers with less than 250 employees contribute 10% of the cost and large businesses pay 30% of the cost.

For more information, go to our Skills Bootcamps page.