# Accelerated apprenticeships at Founders and Coders ---  --- ## a summary of the bootcamp model and accelerated apprenticeships --- ### History - Originally a (free) coding bootcamp - 4-month training - Switched to apprenticeships in 2020 - Much better for candidates (and us!) - Not so much for employers --- ### The challenge - Old model involved all the training happening before getting hired - But apprenticeships *penalise* training providers who provide training before the apprenticeship (prior learning!) --- ### Fortunate timing - Wave 2 of Skills Bootcamp funding announced in 2020, just before we ran our first apprenticeship cohort - Skills Bootcamps were, for us, the solution to the "prior learning" problem - We were able to do at least some of the training before employers got involved - De-risked hiring for employers, at least a bit --- ### Conversations with DfE - Some time in 2022, our contacts at the DfE started telling us that what we were running was an "accelerated apprenticeship" - We didn't really understand what they were talking about, but what we understood is that they wanted to reduce the price of the apprenticeship - We didn't like the sound of that --- ### Skills Bootcamps Wave 4 - The first tranche of funding for Wave 4 opened in early 2023 - The tender documents made the positioning of accelerated apprenticeships much clearer - Accelerated apprenticeships are clearly a priority! - Skills Bootcamps are a critical part of the model and the combined funding regime is generous (Hooray!) --- ### Now - We are now fully on board. We think skills bootcamps + accererated apprenticeships are great and meet the needs of all parties: learners, employers and training providers. :tada: Hooray for accelerated apprenticeships :tada: --- - We will not know if we have been successful in our Wave 4 bid until June - If we are successful, skills bootamps + accelerated apprenticeships will be central to our training - If we don't get the funding, we'll probably have to run the programme unfunded, because by now employers have come to expect it! :crossed_fingers: