Methodology

Skills Bootcamps starts

• Published: 8 December 2022

Data collection and methodology

This publication provides a summary of learner starts by participants who started a funded Skills Bootcamp during the financial year 2021-22. 

Data were collected by the Department from Skills Bootcamps providers. Providers are required to report on learner starts, completions and outcomes after completing a Skills Bootcamp. 

Data were returned from each of the Skills Bootcamp providers. The total estimated number of starts was 16,120. This figure represents 11,380 starts on Skills Bootcamps excluding HGV driving, and 4,740 starts on HGV driving Skills Bootcamps. This breakdown is provided to enable direct comparison with future statistical releases for learner completions and outcomes by participants who started a funded Skills Bootcamp during the financial year 2021-22, which will be published in due course. Due to delays in HGV testing, completions and outcomes for participants undertaking Skills Bootcamps excluding HGV driving will be published at an earlier date than for HGV driving Skills Bootcamps.    

Starts were defined by identifying records for each Skills Bootcamp for which a valid start date between 01/04/2021 and 31/03/2022 was recorded, along with a date when the provider received their first payment.  

One person can enrol on more than one Skills Bootcamp. A start is an instance of training, not the number of individuals trained. 

Data quality

Data were collected from provider's own records and compiled by DfE from individual provider submissions. A number of errors and inconsistences in the way in which starts data had been reported between providers were identified. In order to address this the data was subject to a number of quality checks, including: 

• Data was cleaned to ensure consistent formatting for key variables, including National Insurance Number, postcode, name, and all start and payment dates. 
• Duplicate records were removed. 

The methodology used to determine starts means that the reported figure is conservative. A valid start required the presence of data for a valid start date and the first payment date. It is possible providers did not record this data for some starts which may mean the estimate is lower than the true figure.