The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) was recently awarded £7m from the Department of Education for 2022-23 to deliver training to people living and working in Greater 
Manchester, which will result in a guaranteed interview with a local employer.
Funding will deliver Greater Manchester Skills Bootcamps – part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee – which helps people to get onto the career ladder, transition back into work after a break or access progression opportunities. It is anticipated that this is a 3-year programme.
Skills Bootcamps will support people aged 19 and over from priority groups with flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, while helping employers to fill skills shortages they have identified. Priority groups include:
- Low paid and unemployed/not in work
- Veterans
- Ex-offenders
- Women
- Ethnic minorities
- Over 50s
- Those returning work after a break/maternity leave
- People living with a health condition/disability
The funding GMCA has been awarded will go towards offering training in the city-region until 2023 across range of industries such as construction, manufacturing, digital, the green economy and others.
Note: All training is fully funded for individuals. Businesses wanting to book their workforces onto courses will be expected to pay 30% of training costs. This reduces to 10% if the employer is a small or medium enterprise (SME) with 250 or less employees.