Skills Bootcamps for Oxfordshire

OxLEP (OxLEP Skills) has successfully secured £1.7m of funding from Department for Education (DfE) to deliver Skills Bootcamps to people living or working in the Oxfordshire area. Funded by Department for Education (DfE) and working in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council, OxLEP are leading on the delivery of Skills Bootcamps. Skills Bootcamps are part of the "Plan for Jobs", with the Department for Education (DfE) providing £3bn of the National Skills Fund (NSF) to help adults build skills for the economy of the future; Skills Bootcamps are a key element of this policy: Plan for Jobs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk ↗)

The overall aims of the Skills Bootcamps are:

• To deliver flexible training programmes lasting up to 16 weeks, based on employer/sector 'in-demand' skills need which may be either regulated (i.e., qualification based) or non-regulated (e.g., based on alignment with industry standards).
• To address the needs of adults (19+) who are full-time, part-time, unemployed, returning to work after a break or self-employed, providing individuals with wider access to opportunities to update skills and acquire specialist skills.
• To address the needs of employers and the wider economy, to deliver targeted interventions to meet short-medium term demand to fill vacancies.
• To help fill vacancies and bring individuals closer to better jobs (including those currently in employment).

Funding is 100% for independent learners (unemployed) and partial funding is available for employed learners who are sponsored by their employer:

• 90% funded for SME employers with 250 or less.
• 70% funded for large employers with 251 or more.

OxLEP did not appoint a provider to run the Digital Analytics Skills Bootcamp in its previous procurement and this Bootcamp is therefore being reprocured. OxLEP Skills anticipates that the Skills Bootcamps will be operational by January 2025 and run through to March 2025. The maximum budget for the Digital Analytics Skills Bootcamp is £280,00. The deadline to submit tender applications is Monday, 11th November 2024 at midday.