The Chancellor announced £375 million for the National Skills Fund at the Spending Review in November 2020. More details of how this will work has been released today.
Level 3 adult offer
From April 2021, any adult aged 24 and over who wants to achieve their first full level 3 qualification, which is equivalent to a technical certificate or diploma, or 2 full A levels, will be able to access almost 400 fully funded courses.
Courses will be available in a variety of lengths, to support adults to get the skills they need to boost their careers.
This is part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by the Prime Minister in September 2020.
Sector subject areas and courses available
The courses on offer will deliver a wide range of skills in many jobs and sectors.
All of the qualifications have been carefully chosen to help adults improve their job prospects and meet the needs of the economy.
Qualifications will be available in:
- engineering
- building and construction
- manufacturing technologies
- transportation operations and maintenance
- business management
- public services
- accounting and finance
- medicine and dentistry
- horticulture and forestry
- health and social care
- ICT practitioners
- ICT for users
- mathematics and statistics
- science
- agriculture
- nursing and vocations and subjects allied to medicine
- child development and wellbeing
- environmental conservation
- teaching and lecturing
- warehousing and distribution
Information on accessing the offer will be available in early 2021.
We will keep the qualifications list under review to ensure that it responds to changing labour market needs.
Awarding organisations, Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority will be able to suggest additions to the list through the qualifications funding approval guidance.
19 to 23 year olds will continue to be eligible for their first full level 3 via the adult education budget and will be eligible for any additional qualifications made available through this offer.
Funding for providers
Full funding guidance for providers on the new level 3 offer will be published in the new year.
Skills bootcamps
As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, the Prime Minister also announced the skills bootcamp programme.
Complementing the level 3 adult offer, skills bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of just 12 to 16 weeks. They give people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer.
Subject areas
Courses are available to develop digitals skills including:
- software development
- digital marketing
- data analytics
Skills bootcamps will now also include courses in technical skills such as:
- welding
- engineering
- construction
Locations
Skills bootcamps are available in:
- Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
- Greater Manchester and Lancashire
- Heart of the South West
- Leeds City Region
- Liverpool City Region
- West Midlands
We will expand the skills bootcamp programme into other areas in 2021. An investment of £43 million from the National Skills Fund, will enable greater availability across the country and a wider range of course subjects on offer to meet the skills needs of local areas.
Register for a skills bootcamp
Registrations are currently open for skills bootcamps in:
