National Skills Fund: Temporary extension to the length of time people can undertake training to develop work-related skills and qualifications
The Department for Work and Pensions (@DWP) has announced a temporary extension to the length of time people can undertake training to develop work-related skills and qualifications, whilst still receiving Universal Credit, to support their living costs.
This extension will run for a 6 month period, after which time the impact of this change will be reviewed.
Adults who are in the Universal Credit intensive work search regime are now able to train full time towards a work-related qualification for up to 12 weeks, or up to 16 weeks on a full time skills bootcamp, in England.
This change will run for 6 months, building on the 8 weeks claimants are already able to train full-time.
Provided that an adult is referred to the training course by their Work Coach by 26 October 2021 they will be permitted to complete it whilst claiming Universal Credit, subject to complying with Universal Credit eligibility requirements.
An overview of the National Skills Fund which aims to help adults to train and gain the valuable skills they need to improve their job prospects and support the economy:
Starting this year, the government is investing £2.5 billion in the National Skills Fund.
The National Skills Fund will help adults to train and gain the valuable skills they need to improve their job prospects.
It will support the immediate economic recovery and future skills needs by boosting the supply of skills that employers require.
At the Spending Review in November 2020, the Chancellor announced £375 million from the overall investment for the National Skills Fund to cover the financial year 2021 to 2022.
This includes £95 million of additional funding to give adults free access to level 3 qualifications.
Hundreds of courses have been carefully selected to support adults to gain skills leading to jobs in sectors such as construction, healthcare and digital.
The announcement also included £43 million to expand skills bootcamps, which have the potential to transform the skills landscape for adults and employers.
Free level 3 qualifications for adults
Any adult aged 19 and over who wants to achieve their first full level 3 qualification, which is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or A levels, can now access hundreds of fully-funded courses.
This offer is part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by the Prime Minister in September 2020. It represents a long-term commitment to remove the age constraints and financial barriers for adults looking for their first level 3 qualification so that they can access training to enable them to progress.
Courses are available in a variety of lengths, to support adults to get the skills they need to boost their careers.
19 to 23 year olds can also access additional courses for free through their legal entitlement to a first full level 3 qualification.
Sector subject areas and courses available
The qualifications have been carefully chosen to help adults improve their job prospects. They have good wage outcomes and will address skills needs in the economy, delivering a wide range of skills in many jobs and sectors.
See the list of the qualifications included in the offer for more information. You can also find them by using the ‘qualifications offer’ filter in the qualifications search service.
Qualifications are currently available in:
- engineering
- building and construction
- health and social care
- childcare and early years
- digital
- business management
- accounting and finance
- public services
- medicine and dentistry
- environmental conservation
- forestry
- agriculture
- horticulture
- mathematics and statistics
- science
- teaching and lecturing
- warehousing and distribution
- manufacturing technologies
- transportation operations and maintenance
We will keep the qualifications list and sector-subject areas in scope under review to ensure this offer responds to changing labour market needs.
Awarding organisations, Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority can suggest additions to the list through the qualifications funding approval process if they meet the criteria.
Funding arrangements for providers
Funding for the level 3 adult offer will be routed via Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority for residents in those areas of England.
Funding for the level 3 adult offer for residents in all other areas of England will be routed via the adult education budget and administered by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). More information on funding for the level 3 adult offer for 2020 to 2021 is available in:
- adult education budget (AEB) funding rules for 2020 to 2021
- AEB funding rates and formula 2020 to 2021
- 19+ funding allocations for 2020 to 2021
Funding uplift
The government has provided an uplift for each qualification delivered as part of this offer, to support providers to scale up the delivery of level 3 provision for adults. The following uplifts have been applied to the funding rates for all qualifications included in this offer:
- £600 per-qualification uplift for qualifications of 360 guided learning hours or above
- £150 per-qualification uplift for qualifications of 359 guided learning hours or below
We want to enable providers to deliver these qualifications for adults, even if there is a higher demand than expected. ESFA-funded providers are able to over-deliver on their level 3 adult offer allocation by up to 50% from April to July 2021.
Arrangements are also in place to ensure Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority can fund additional demand in April to July 2021. Details about arrangements to enable providers to expand capacity in line with demand from August 2021 will be provided in the funding rules for the academic year 2021 to 2022.
Course materials for providers
Jisc have published a detailed reading list for organisations delivering level 3 adult courses as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
Skills bootcamps
As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, the Prime Minister also announced the skills bootcamp programme.
Skills bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of just 12 to 16 weeks for adults aged 19 or over and who are either in work or recently unemployed (some skills bootcamps have additional eligibility criteria). They give people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer.
There has been a high demand for places on the trailblazer skills bootcamps. An investment of £43 million from the National Skills Fund will enable greater availability across the country and a wider range of course subjects on offer to meet the skills needs of local areas. New skills bootcamps will be announced later in the spring and information will be added as soon as it is available.
Subject areas
Skills bootcamps are developed in partnership with employers, colleges and local authorities, to help people develop the skills that are in demand in their local area and get a better job. They include a range of digital courses and technical skills courses.
Trailblazer skills bootcamps have included courses in:
- software development
- digital marketing
- data analytics
- welding
- engineering
- construction
Locations
Trailblazer skills bootcamps have been delivered in:
- Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
- Greater Manchester and Lancashire
- Heart of the South West
- Leeds City Region
- Liverpool City Region
- West Midlands
New skills bootcamps will be announced later in the spring and information will be added as soon as it is available.
Eligibility
The courses are open to adults aged 19 and over who are either in work or recently unemployed.
Some skills bootcamps may have additional eligibility criteria.
Published 9 December 2020
Last updated 10 May 2021 + show all updates
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Added information about a temporary extension to the length of time people can undertake training to develop work-related skills and qualifications while still receiving Universal Credit.
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Updated to reflect that free level 3 qualifications for adults are now available.
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Updated the information about the level 3 adult offer including the funding arrangements for providers.
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First published.
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