NTCA Flexible Procurement Agreement for Post 16 Skills Framework

The principal purpose of the devolved Adult Skills Fund is to engage adults aged 19+ and provide them with the skills needed for entering and sustaining work, an apprenticeship/traineeship, or other further learning.

It provides funding for programmes of learning up to Level 2 (GCSE level equivalent) and some Level 3 qualifications (A level equivalent), dependant on eligibility. It does not fund all Level 3 learning, or programmes at Level 4 and above these are funded through Advanced Learner Loans or Higher Education (HE) funding.

The devolved Adult Skills Fund encompasses a range of statutory entitlements for learners, including the right to fully funded provision for basic English and maths qualifications and, depending on the resident’s age and employment status, an entitlement to a first Level 2 and/or Level 3 qualification.

The minimum contract value for this lot is £50,000 and maximum is £750,000

The Free Courses for Jobs Level 3 Adult Offer is designed to help adults to gain the skills that are sought by employers. This will help them improve their job prospects and support economic recovery.

Funding in this Lot is available for provision to support adults to gain free fully funded Level 3 qualifications that are part of the national approved adult offer. This offer includes around 400 Level 3 qualifications in 20 different sector subject areas (SSA). NTCA officers, in consultation with providers will monitor qualifications on the approved list to ensure that they meet the needs of NTCA’s growth/recovery sectors for delivery.

Funding in this Lot should support adults aged 24+ to gain their first Level 3 qualification, it is also available to adults in the NTCA region who earn less than the Real Living Wage or who are unemployed. This is regardless of their prior qualification level.

The minimum contract value for this lot is £125,000 and maximum £500,000

Skills Bootcamps are intensive, Level 3-5 or equivalent flexible training courses up to 16 weeks, with a guaranteed job interview (in the case of a new job), which equip adults with technical skills that enable them to access in-demand jobs, apprenticeships, new opportunities and an increased level of income over time (including for the self-employed).

Provision in this Lot should be open to NTCA residents aged 19 or over who are full-time or part-time employed, self-employed, unemployed (i.e., not in work), as well as adults returning to work after a break.

Providers must ensure employer involvement in the design and delivery of their Skills Bootcamp provision. Providers will be required by the NTCA to provide evidence of its work with employers. This could include involvement in the provision of behavioural skills support, work experience, coaching and mentoring, or the delivery of content.

Providers can offer a range of Skills Bootcamps courses, such as:

• digital skills, including marketing, coding or data analysis
• technical training in areas such as engineering, construction, or logistics (HGV driving)
• green skills, for instance, solar energy or agriculture technology

The minimum contract value for this lot is £100,000 and maximum is £700,000

The primary objective of funding available in Lot 4 is to boost core skills and supporting adults to progress in work, by targeting adults with no or low-level skills. Funding in Lot 4 will also support training for people to take up jobs in growing low carbon industries and transitioning from high carbon to low carbon jobs, raising awareness of green economy job opportunities.

Lot 4 is also for provision to support NTCA’s Multiply Programme. The Government has committed that a priority of the UKSPF funds will be for a Multiply programme supporting adults to improve functional numeracy skills.

Multiply funding in the NTCA region must help people improve their ability to understand and use maths in daily life, home, and work. Whether that be improving household finances, helping children with homework, making more sense of the facts in the media, or improving numeracy skills specific to a line of work. To achieve that, providers may offer a range of options such as free personal tutoring, digital training and flexible courses that fit around people’s lives and are tailored to specific needs, circumstances, sectors and industries.

The minimum contract value for this lot is £50,000 and maximum £600,000

The principal purpose of funding in Lot 5 Skills for Sector Growth Lot is to ensure that NTCA funding for innovation and targeted investment is underpinned by the development of a skills and talent pipeline which support key growth sectors such as Digital Innovation and Growth, Green Growth, and Skills for the Culture, and the Creative and Tourism Sectors.

This funding presents an opportunity for a range of organisations and partnerships to come forward with ideas for projects, collaborations and proposals for co-investment in skills interventions.

Proposals to this Lot should be evidence led and clearly demonstrate need, complementarity to existing support/investment, and strong strategic fit with NTCA’s skills policy objectives. Provision must be linked to the inward investment and job opportunities in the NTCA region. We aim to invest in skills and training projects that are designed in collaboration with project developers and existing local firms operating in our region.

Programmes must be collaborative, partnership based, and employer led or backed. They must promote equality of access to careers in our growth sectors and give regard to creating opportunities for the unemployed as well as upskilling of the existing workforce.

All provision must add value to a wide range of other support and not duplicate existing activity. Levering other funding where possible.

The minimum contract value for this lot is £500,000 and maximum £1m

Provision in this Lot will support NTCA’s wider programmes including our work on child poverty prevention and education improvement programmes, which aim to support schools, children and their families through delivery of support and interventions including family learning, enrichment and mental health and wellbeing.

Provision in this Lot can be utilised to test new flexibilities and support innovation. NTCA will make provision for pilot activity and ‘test and learn’ projects which could, for example, trial new payment models, rates and eligibility for specified activity, pilot niche provision or delivery models, and scale up existing activity for cohorts of priority learners/employment sectors.

Provision may include support for residents with Special Education Needs and / or Disabilities (SEND). NTCA recognises that there are barriers to adult education and training for learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, this could be the availability and awareness of local provision that meets an individual’s needs, appropriate training for staff and risk assessments in mainstream institutions to support learners with SEND, and the cost of and access to public transport. NTCA expects providers to ensure that planned provision is accessible to all residents.

The minimum contract value for this lot is £30,000 and maximum £500,000

Provision in Lot 7 is to provide skills support for small and medium sized businesses to upskill their employee with training courses and qualifications to grow their business and boost the local economy.

Providers may develop bespoke training programmes that suit individual employer needs which can be accessed at no cost to the business. Programmes can be offered across a range of subject arars including customer service, leadership and management, health and social care, digital and sustainability.

Provision can include but is not limited to training needs analysis for your business, identifying the skills needed to support business ambitions, full qualifications or mix and match individual units to suit, on-the-job vocational training to meet individual and business needs including taught learning, workplace assessment, distance learning and online learning

Learning pathways for employees enabling them to progress within the organisation onto higher level qualifications or apprenticeships.

The minimum contract value for this lot is £50,000 and maximum £500,000