£500m skills bootcamps failing to boost job prospects

Almost two-thirds of skills bootcamp learners failed to achieve a positive job outcome in the second year of the flagship programme’s rollout, new government data has revealed.

And almost two in five bootcamp starters from this cohort dropped out before the end of their course.

The figures, finally published today for the 2021-22 financial year, come a month ahead of the autumn Budget when a decision could be made on whether funding for the programme will be extended beyond March 2025.

Experts say the results are “disappointing but not unexpected”, with some claiming the fast-track training programmes are a “waste of public money” while others say they should be retained as the courses are an “excellent option to upskill or retrain”.

Skills bootcamps involve a combination of training, work experience and a guaranteed job interview over a period of up to 16 weeks.

Despite being funded with more than £500 million between 2020 and 2025, little is known about whether the programmes are effective in helping people to progress in their career or move into a new sector as timely outcomes data has not been published.

What does the delayed data show?

Out of the 18,110 bootcamp starts between April 2021 and March 2022, 11,260 (62 per cent) learners completed the course and 6,480 (36 per cent) reported “positive outcomes”.

Positive outcomes can include a participant becoming self-employed with new opportunities, continuing in current employment with new or increased responsibilities, brand new employment or a participant gaining a new role with their current employer.

The government aims to train at least 150,000 people through skills bootcamps by next year. But the results data release calls into question former Conservative ministerial claims that the courses are a “great success” that result in “good” outcomes.

Stephen Evans, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, said the figures “leave more questions than answers”.

“We don’t know how many people who were out of work got jobs, nor how many of these might have found work without the bootcamp,” he told FE Week.

“Previous research showed half of participants already had a degree-level qualification and two-thirds were qualified to A-level equivalent. Is that really the right focus for limited public investment when participation in adult English and maths learning is down two-thirds in a decade?

“I worry this means skills bootcamps are both missing the point and failing to reach those that need the most help.”

But Simon Ashworth, deputy chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, which represents many independent providers that deliver bootcamps, argued they are an “excellent option to upskill or retrain”.

However, he added: “Today’s dataset release dates back to 2021-22 though, so we would benefit from a more timely and better developed range of data being released.

“This would allow us to appraise skills bootcamps outcomes properly.”

Sue Pember, policy director for HOLEX, called the results “disappointing, but not unexpected”.

She added: “Although the concept of an intensive programme is fine in the right circumstances, there was not enough thought given to the needs of the students.

“The majority of the courses were classed as level 3. To be successful on a level 3 course, students would need to be confident in English and maths, but many students didn’t have these qualifications and were therefore set up to fail.”

Payment disputes causing delays?

One explanation for the data delay may stem from disputes between providers and the Department for Education over payments for achieving positive outcomes.

Bootcamp contracts stipulate that providers only receive 40 per cent of their fee for each learner up front, with the remaining 30 per cent when a participant has a job interview, and a final 30 per cent if they see a positive outcome.

After today’s data was released, one director of funding for a bootcamp provider claimed on social media that the DfE has previously refused to accept job evidence emailed from a learner because it only included their first name.

Spending figures for 2020 to 2023, previously obtained by FE Week through a freedom of information request, show that the bootcamps programme is hitting big underspends despite start targets being exceeded in each of the first three financial years of the programme.

Just £130 million of a total £206 million allocated over the 2020 to 2023 period was spent. In 2022-23 the government allocated £150 million but only spent £85 million.

Former Federation of Awarding Bodies chief executive and skills policy expert Tom Bewick said the courses appear to be a “complete waste of money” due to the apparent lack of success measurement by the government.

He added: “The Treasury should be concerned that, with no proxy measure of success (like a valuable qualification achieved), the whole scheme is open to abuse, such as deadweight training, which would have gone ahead anyway. 

“The whole DfE scheme looks like money for old rope and the providers, of course, will always respond proactively to free government money when it is on offer.”

Following publication of this article, a DfE spokesperson claimed the two and a half year data release delay was caused by the Covid pandemic and the general election.