Skills Bootcamps process evaluation

The Skills Bootcamps (employer-led training initiatives) were announced in September 2020 and aimed to test approaches for roll-out to other industries and skillsets. The aim of bootcamps was to help individuals adjust to the changing economy through training to upskill or reskill so to enable transition from work in declining sectors and occupations into new career directions. Outcome measures set by the Department for Education (DfE) concerned entry into work or a different job and whether this represented any form of progression.

In Wave 1 – the subject of this process evaluation, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Liverpool City Region (LCR), West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) implemented via Leeds City Region, the South West local enterprise partnership (LEP) – Heart of the South West (HotSW) and the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire LEP (D2N2) were involved. These areas received grant funding from the Department to develop bootcamps provision for delivery from autumn 2020.

In spring 2021, the Department set about commissioning a second wave of bootcamps that would cover all regions of England (Wave 2). A process evaluation was commissioned to commence in early 2021 and to track the implementation of the Wave 1 bootcamps through qualitative interviews with a range of stakeholders, a survey of learners and analysis of the management information (MI) that was available and of suitable quality at the time of reporting. The process evaluation of Wave 1 is the subject of this report.