Complex funding models, administrative burdens, and a risk averse attitude have kept most colleges away from skills bootcamps, an FE Week investigation has found.
Data shared exclusively with this publication shows that 68 per cent of England’s FE colleges have not dipped into the flagship government programme, despite their close links with local employers arguably making them an ideal fit.
Of that 68 per cent, just 17 per cent plan to launch skills bootcamps by 2025.
The government is dishing out around £600 million to fund the programmes, designed to quickly get people into employment in skills shortage areas, both nationally and in mayoral combined authorities between 2020 and 2025. There were over 16,000 bootcamps starts in 2021-22, which rose to over 40,000 in 2022-23.
