Barnsley College to launch free digital skills training for adults

22nd July 2021

Adults who want to develop their digital skills to get into employment and progress in their career are being offered fully-funded training.

A South Yorkshire consortium has been selected to offer Skills Bootcamps – part of the government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Plan for Jobs.

The Government’s Skills Bootcamp training programmes will be expanded across the country, offering an extra 16,000 places for adults to upskill or retrain at no extra cost to students.

The expansion covers a range of digital and technical training including in green skills, such as solar energy installation, sustainable agriculture, nuclear energy, and green transport, along with coding and software development, so more adults have the opportunity to access the skills and training they need that leads directly to a job.

Skills Bootcamps are flexible courses of up to 16 weeks that provide the opportunity to build sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer.

The free vocational training scheme, funded by the government’s National Skills Fund, aims to help adults aged 19 and over to improve their job prospects.

The training is open to adults who are employed, self-employed or career changers. It is also open to those who have become unemployed within the last 12 months.

The College will be providing Skills Bootcamps in digital skills, backed by employers, from September 2021. The specific Skills Bootcamps include infrastructure technician, software development technician and cyber security technologist.

David Akeroyd, Deputy Principal Development and Productivity at Barnsley College, said: “Barnsley College is addressing the digital skills gap and digital poverty and the Skills Bootcamps is the latest expansion of our digital offer.

“Colleges must continue to rise to the challenge and offer solutions that drive the future economy, meet the nation’s skills gaps, and present an opportunity for real progression to learners.

“We believe that every adult has the right to life-long education and training, ensuring they have the skills to succeed in the new and future economy. Adult learning drives the economy by ensuring that workers are more skilled, more productive, and happier.

“Our ongoing, ambitious programme of working with employers, co-developing our curriculum, and building impactful partnerships within the region and beyond, offers a real chance for us as a College, and as a sector, to play a huge part in the future economic recovery and success of the country.”

The scheme is part of the government’s Skills for Jobs White Paper, first announced in January 2021 that aims to support lifelong learning and put further education colleges at the heart of the pandemic skills recovery.

The South Yorkshire Skills Bootcamps consortium includes Barnsley College, The Sheffield College, RNN Group, Sheffield Hallam University and The Developer Academy.