Overview: What is the Government’s Bootcamp Initiative?
As part of a COVID-related scheme proposed in 2019, the government are funding training courses for adults over the age of 19, who are either currently in work or recently unemployed, and are living in England. Because these are entirely funded by the government, it gives people the opportunity to access and complete courses that would otherwise cost upwards of thousands of pounds.
The skills bootcamps give people the opportunity to build sector-specific skills, and can lead to fast-tracked interviews with local employers. The scheme is there to help in ‘upskilling’ England’s workforce, with the ultimate goal being for more individuals to have more relevant vocational skills for employers.
These bootcamp courses are targeted at those who are already in the work force who either want to brush up on existing skills and gain supplementary qualifications, or those who may wish to completely re-skill and train for a new sector of work.
The initiative is part of a “longstanding ambition” to up-skill the population of the country, according to a Government report published in October 2021, so it is expected that this initiative will continue to run for the foreseeable future, provided interest in the courses remains active.
What courses are funded and where?
Most of the currently available courses are focused around the digital sector. Coding, Cyber Security, Data Analysis and Data Engineering, Digital Marketing, Web Development and Software Engineering are just some examples of the available courses. Some of these are available from a number of course providers, and the course content will differ between those.
There are also courses available in Engineering, Health and Social Care, Construction, Business, and others – though there are generally fewer of these than there are in the digital sector.
The bootcamp courses are delivered online, and there are a number of courses that are available anywhere in England. However, for most of the courses, what is available will depend upon where in England you are.
Go to your region at this website to find courses available in your area.
There are also a few in-person bootcamp courses available. These tend not to be in the digital sector, including instead usually those in Green Skills, some Engineering, HGV certifications, and a some others as well.
All of the bootcamp courses, whether online or in-person, that you find on the database available at the website linked above, are currently fully funded by the UK government if you live in England, and have the right to live and work here. Each of the providers, and each of the courses, do however have specific entry requirements that may vary considerably.
How to choose a bootcamp provider or course?
Each bootcamp provider is slightly different, and therefore so are the courses that they provide. As you’re looking through the various courses on the government website, you may notice that a lot of them have similar or the same names. You should decide first upon the general course area you want to study, and then look at each of the potential course providers in detail to determine which is best for you.
Deciding on a course area must come first. We have another blog post that goes into more detail on this, and may be helpful. But in short, you need to work out what exactly your ultimate goal in enrolling on the bootcamp course is? What are your career goals? And what really interests you?
You’ll also want to consider the different course providers that offer the area you’re looking to study. What are the modules included on their course? Who teaches the course? And what are previous students doing now?
You could do some research and put together some pros and cons of each course, and all of the possible providers, and even reach out to your top picks to get more of a feel for the organisation. There’s no need to rush the decision, and it’s important to get it right. So take your time!
Getting started: What do I need to do next?
Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to study, and some top picks with regards to the course providers, you’re ready to start thinking about applications.
Each provider has a different application process, and some of these can involve quite a few steps. Here are Comparebootcamp.com we can help you with the application process, for free, streamlining this and ensuring no mistakes are made along the way.
But it is possible as well to do it alone. And if you do decide to do this, there are plenty of guides online, as well as our other blog posts!
Most of the courses do not require you to have any prior formal education relevant to the subject area you’re looking to study. And you won’t necessarily need a degree, or even any A-levels, to be successful in gaining a place on the bootcamp courses. They are looking for evidence of hard-work and dedication, and ideally at least a clear interest in the subject area. So be sure to include in your application any mention of things you think could be relevant.
Conclusions
If you are eligible, these courses are free – and there really is nothing to lose in taking a look and applying for one available in your region. If you still have questions, we have some other useful articles on the blog site, or you can get in touch for a free consultation!