What needs to be included in an evidence pack for a Skills Bootcamp learner?

As a training provider, your Skills Bootcamp evidence pack must include all the information to support any funding claimed.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) provides funding to training providers to deliver Skills Bootcamp training. Skills Bootcamps support adults aged 19+ that are looking to learn new skills or change careers.

The evidence pack for a Skills Bootcamp must be available to the ESFA at any time, in order to prove that the learner exists and that they have undertaken any activities that have been claimed for in the funding application.

It’s important for training providers to keep evidence packs up to date and ensure they include all relevant information on each individual learner.

When you become an official Skills Bootcamp provider, you will be allocated a Contract Manager who will tell you what evidence you need to provide and what documentation will be acceptable.

If the evidence you provide is seen as insufficient, you risk being asked to return any funding provided.

How to collect and store evidence

There’s a lot of information required on each learner to ensure that the funding requirements have been met. The ESFA accepts electronic evidence and the use of digital signatures, providing that a secure process to obtain and store signatures is followed.

Offering a digital enrolment process allows you to securely collect and store information on each learner from the very beginning. It also has the added benefit of getting learners onboarded and engaged with the course quickly, which can lower the risk of withdrawal.

Once learners are enrolled, your chosen platform should be able to automatically log all the relevant information about their progress and comply with ESFA funding requirements.

What evidence is required for Skills Bootcamps?

For each Skills Bootcamp, the evidence pack needs to contain:

• Details of all aspects of the learning to be carried out, from mentoring to online learning. This includes evidence of the number of planned guided learning hours (each Bootcamp must have a minimum of 60 guided learning hours)
• Evidence that any employers you are working with have received the Skills Bootcamp employer privacy notice and agreed to the collection and sharing of data as set out in the notice

Both the employer privacy notice and the privacy notice for learners (see below) need to comply with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Evidence on each learner

Each learner will need to declare certain information at the point of enrolment. This includes their personal details and whether they have undertaken any other Skills Bootcamps in the past 12 months.

Evidence must also include:

• Employer contributions (as appropriate)
• Any learning that is planned or has taken place
• Completion of any assessments
• Time spent on learning, including any pastoral support and employability skills
• Skills Bootcamp privacy notice (and link to the complaints/whistleblower helpline)

As well as the above evidence, you will need evidence to support any claims for the learner start payment, including their enrolment information and completed ILR. For the completion payment, you will also need one of the below:

• Evidence of a job interview offer matching the skills acquired through the Skills Bootcamp
• Where the learner has been trained by their own employer: evidence that they have been offered a new role and/or responsibilities matching the new skills acquired
• Where the learner is self-employed: written confirmation or plan from the learner indicating how the new learning has been applied to acquire new opportunities or contracts

Accelerated apprenticeships

Skills Bootcamps are one of the official pathways for learners to access accelerated apprenticeships.

If a learner goes on to an accelerated apprenticeship after completing the Skills Bootcamp, then they are classed as a completed learner. An accelerated apprenticeship is one that is reduced in length because the Skills Bootcamp has filled a gap in learning.

The evidence required includes:

• An offer of an accelerated apprenticeship interview that is linked to the skills acquired on the Skills Bootcamp

Plus one of the below:

• An accelerated apprenticeship with a new employer or existing employer that uses the skills acquired through the Skills Bootcamp (an offer of an apprenticeship that has not been accelerated cannot be claimed for the outcome payment in Lot 6)
• A job (not an apprenticeship) that uses the new skills acquired through the Skills Bootcamp
• Upskilling of an employee into a new role or their existing role with additional responsibilities using the skills acquired through the Skills Bootcamp.
• A new opportunity or contract where the learner is self-employed, gained as a result of the new skills acquired through the Skills Bootcamp

Changes in learner status

A learner may change status during the course, e.g. moving from employed to self-employed, or from self-employed to seeking employment. This may change the expected outcome of their training, which will impact the evidence that you need to show for this learner.

Your Contract Manager will be able to confirm what evidence you need in this instance.

Easily manage your Skills Bootcamp with Bud

Bud is an intuitive digital platform that streamlines the delivery of ESFA-funded vocational skills training. Built with compliance in mind, it gives you full visibility over learner progress with easy-to-use reporting dashboards.

Find out more about Bud: Book a demo or chat with one of our experts.