The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has secured £8.1m to deliver Skills Bootcamps in a range of sectors over the next year, after successfully piloting Skills Bootcamps in digital skills over the last two years.

Skills Bootcamps provide training in construction, digital, engineering, green skills, HGV drivers, and rail. Funding for years two and three will be based on performance.

Thousands of people are expected to benefit from the free courses, which are intended to raise skill levels in key sectors, enabling eligible adults to move into more sustainable roles, and provide Liverpool City Region residents with the skills the region’s employers really need.

Skills Bootcamps are funded by the Department for Education. The free flexible courses last up to 16-weeks and are playing a key role in the government’s Levelling Up activity. The Skills Bootcamps will provide training with content at Level 3 standard or above.

Skills Bootcamps support employers who wish to retrain their existing staff in order to develop new business or retain staff, individuals who are self-employed, and also any adult employed or unemployed who is looking to gain new skills to enable them to progress.

Everyone who undertakes the training will be offered an interview with an employer.

Speaking about the training available, Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:

“Talking to business leaders in our city region, it’s abundantly clear that across every sector, there is a real hunger to recruit skilled, local workers. Through the good work we have been able to do with our devolved powers over skills, we’ve been able to secure more money from government to give more of our residents the skills they need to get on.

“We want to create a region of highly-skilled, highly-employable workers, with a strong focus on those looking for a new challenge, a fresh start or a chance to return to the workforce.

“By giving local people the training they need to access good-quality, well-paid secure jobs, we can ensure that the talent remains in our region and that we have a workforce ready to take full advantage of the jobs that the Green Industrial Revolution and other industries of tomorrow will bring.”

Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills Alex Burghart said:

“Skills Bootcamps are a highly effective way to learn skills at pace in a range of in demand sectors including digital, construction and green transport.  

“This funding boost will support even more adults across the region to take advantage of these free courses and get on the path to well-paid careers.” 

The Liverpool City Region was one of only six areas nationally to pilot Skills Bootcamps in digital back in September 2020, aimed at helping participants gain jobs in the digital sector, and went on to run a further round of digital Skills Bootcamps in 2021.

To date almost 700 people – a combination of unemployed, self-employed, and employed – have completed a digital Skills Bootcamp. Their progress will be monitored over the coming months.

For more information – for individuals and employers – see the web page.