Following the publication of the government’s Plan for Jobs which included a £111 million investment to triple the number of Traineeships available in 2020/21 the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is running a procurement opportunity so providers and employers can access funding to deliver 19 to 24 funded Traineeship growth.  They will be looking for providers and employers who have the capacity to start providing high-quality Traineeships from the beginning of February 2021 through a ring-fenced contract for service.

In addition to the procurement opportunity, they are introducing a new employer incentive of £1000 to encourage employers to offer new Traineeship work placements and support with the employer’s costs in setting up their offer. The new incentive payment will only apply during the 2020/21 academic year. More information on the employer incentive will be available shortly.

In July 2020 the ESFA published a news story which provided details on how potential applicants can register for the procurement, within the narrative it states that opportunities to bid for additional 19 to 24 Traineeship funding will be handled through the Department for Education’s e-sourcing portal and that organisations who do not already have an existing account must register one as this is the only method to access tendering documentation.

The ESFA will be administering the procurement process electronically via Jaggaer the DfE e-Procurement Solution (e-PS) portal. Potential applicants can access Jaggaer via the Department for Education’s e-sourcing portal and potential applicants are required to submit their Tenders in accordance with the instructions set out in Jaggaer and the ITT.

The deadline for the receipt of the completed Tenders is 17:00 GMT on 28 October 2020 and deadline for enquiries and clarifications is 12:00 (noon) GMT on 23 October 2020.

More information on what a Traineeship programme is