Methodology

Skills Bootcamps Completions and Outcomes

• Published: 19 September 2024

About these statistics

This release provides statistics on Skills Bootcamps completions and outcomes in England as reported to the department by Skills Bootcamps providers.

We would welcome feedback on any aspect of these statistics - including how they are used. If you'd like to get in touch, please use the contact details available on the publication page

Background

What is a Skills Bootcamp?

Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview with an employer on completion. Find out more about Skills Bootcamps at this link: Skills Bootcamps - Skills for Life (opens in a new tab). Skills Bootcamps were first launched in Autumn 2020. Delivered across 6 areas of England, they focused on digital skills including cyber security, coding, software development and engineering, data analysis and digital marketing. There were also some technical Skills Bootcamps in rail engineering, engineering construction, photonics, broadband installation, specialist welding and advanced brickwork. Data about this delivery (between September 2020 and March 2021) can be found at this link Skills Bootcamps outcomes, Financial Year 2020-21 – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK (explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk). 

The model was expanded in the 2021-22 financial year (FY), to make Skills Bootcamps available across England in a wider range of skill areas including digital, technical (including engineering and manufacturing), construction, and skills that support the green economy. The model was further expanded in November 2021 to provide Skills Bootcamps in HGV driving, to help address the national skills shortage in this sector. Data about this delivery (between April 2021 and March 2022) can be found at this link Skills Bootcamps starts, Financial year 2021-22 – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK (explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk)

Alongside these data, DfE has commissioned an independent evaluation of Skills Bootcamps undertaken in FY2021-22 and FY2022-23. The first research report (opens in a new tab) from this evaluation has been published. Further reports will be available to provide insight into the effectiveness and impact of Skills Bootcamps.

Data collection and methodology

Data was collected by the Department from each of the Skills Bootcamps providers. Providers were required to report on learner starts, completions and outcomes.

Financial year 2020-2021

Validation checks were carried out on data returns including:

• Local areas, as part of their governance role, carried out checks on at least 10% of reported data to guard against fraud – this involved contacting learners for verification of reported outcomes.
• The Department carried out checks of a random sample on completion evidence for learners in each supplier  
   

Data were collected from each of the 48 Skills Bootcamp providers’ own records, and, as such, there are some inconsistencies in the way outcomes are reported between providers.

• Information on outcome was self-reported by participants and although there were some checks on a random sample of returns, it was not possible to verify every outcome.
• There were inconsistencies between providers in how outcome information was completed. Some providers only reported outcomes for those completing Bootcamps, while others reported data for all participants. This limits the scope of this publication to the numbers of learners reported, at a national level.
• There was a small amount of reporting which included outcomes for those not completing Bootcamps. Where identified, this has been removed from this publication, however it is possible that there are some reported outcomes in the data for those that started but did not complete a Bootcamp.
   

Defining completions and outcomes

A completion is defined as all training being completed by a learner, including any assessments and one of the following depending on the learner type: 

• For independent learners an offer of an interview for a vacancy which meets the relevant criteria.
• For self-employed learners written confirmation of how the Skills Bootcamp training has been or will be applied to enable them to secure new contracts.
• For co-funded learners an offer of a new role or responsibility within the current organisation.

Positive outcomes are defined as:

• Participant becoming or continuing in self-employment with new opportunities.
• Participant continuing in current employment with new or increased responsibilities.
• New employment (including full-time, part time, temporary or apprenticeship).
• Participant gaining new role with current employer.

Financial year 2021-2022

Defining completions and outcomes

For Skills Bootcamps delivered via national contracts:

Completions and Outcomes were calculated based on the presence of the following conditions:

• Completions – The instance must be a valid start AND have a date of when the provider was paid for Milestone 2 (completion milestone - paid to provider when the learner has completed their training).
• Outcomes – The instance must be a valid start AND have a Milestone 2 payment date AND a date of when the provider was paid for Milestone 3 (outcome milestone - paid to the provider when the learner achieves, and evidence is provided of a successful outcome). 

For Skills Bootcamps delivered via extended contracts and cold spots and grants areas:

For 2021-22 courses that were part of contracts extended from financial year 2020-21 and those that were delivered in cold spots and grants areas (areas where DfE identified gaps in provision in England where targeted recruitment took place), completions and outcomes were calculated based on the presence of the following conditions, as payment milestone data was not available:

• Completions – The instance must be a valid start AND have answered “Yes” to the question “has the learner completed the course”.
• Outcomes – The instance must be a valid start and the provider must have demonstrated that the learner had achieved a new job or apprenticeship, progressed in their current job, gained new responsibilities, or obtained new business opportunities if self-employed.

For Skills Bootcamps in HGV courses:

For HGV courses, there were cases where learners started at one provider then completed their course at another. This is due to some providers stopping delivery of a HGV Skills Bootcamp, meaning learners moved providers to finish their course. Payment milestones were therefore spread between the providers involved in delivery of a learner’s course.

With this in mind, for HGV courses, completions and outcomes are counted independently and do not require a valid start or previous payment milestone to be valid:

• Completions – The instance must have a completion date for Milestone 2 (completion milestone - paid to provider when the learner has completed their training).
• Outcomes- The instance must have an outcome date of when the provider was paid for Milestone 3 (outcome milestone - paid to the provider when the learner achieves and evidence is provided of a successful outcome). 
   
   

Help and support

Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Skills Bootcamps Completions and Outcomes statistics and data:

Skills Bootcamps

Email: olivia.garbutt@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Olivia Garbutt

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