Digital skills provider awarded £1.2 million to support 450 people in North West into tech careers

Skills City, a training provider that supports alternative routes into employment in the tech sector, has been awarded £1.2 million from the Department for Education (DfE) to support 450 people in the North West through Skills Bootcamps.

Based at MediaCityUK and developed by HOST, Skills City will host six DfE funded bootcamps as part of a wider rollout of training programmes and part of the government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Plan for Jobs.

The funding will support 450 people with fair access to digital skills training, by breaking the barriers faced by those from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds and empowering them into technology careers; 50 per cent of learners will be women in order to drive gender parity in the tech sector.

The Skills Bootcamps are employer-led with support from industry leaders including BAE Systems and Bentley Motors, and XR and immersive experts Taran3D and v360. In the North West, Skills City will provide five bootcamps offering fully funding training to 360 people through partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Raytheon. 90 places will be partly funded alongside a 30 per cent contribution from employers to upskill their staff, in partnership with the University of Salford.

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

Mo Isap, CEO of IN4.0 Group, operator of HOST, said:

It is a huge privilege to have this recognition for Skills City and to be a chosen partner for the Department for Education, we have an amazing opportunity to offer this alternative provision to our communities in the North West.

“Helping to fast-track people who previously would not have had access to these opportunities into world-class technology careers is what we originally set out to do, and having reached this landmark, we are excited to change the dynamic of future skills and technology talent.

“With Skills City, we have designed a unique blueprint to give employers and learners choice and our mission is to operate across the UK. We may be about technology, but the benefits we bring are all about people.”

In total, the DfE has awarded £36 million to support digital skills training nationwide, creating training opportunities in eighteen areas of the UK. Commenting on the announcement, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

No matter where you are from, everyone should have the chance to get the skills needed to get a good job – whether that’s to launch a new career or upskill in their industry.

“We have put skills right at the heart of our ambitious reforms, to make sure we can build back better from the pandemic, empowering people to get the skills they need to build the life they want.

“Today marks the next vital step in our mission to level up opportunities by investing in skills, investing in lifelong learning and investing in communities so that people can thrive and prosper – wherever they live.”