The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will soon invite providers to bid for funding to deliver traineeships for 19- to 24-year-olds.

In an announcement published today, the ESFA said it was looking for "providers with the capacity to start providing high-quality traineeships quickly through a ring-fenced contract for service".

The traineeships are part of chancellor Rishi Sunak's Plan for Jobs to tackle unemployment as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and are backed by £111 million in funding for 2020 to 2021. 

Background: Traineeships to get £111m boost from Treasury

More: What the chancellor's plans mean for FE and skills

Need to know: 75% of traineeships lead to apprenticeships or jobs

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief policy officer Simon Ashworth said that it was great to see that the government "was not wasting time" as the levels of youth unemployment rise. 

He said: “The procurement should reward existing expertise and capacity among those providers who have stayed loyal to traineeships and turned them into a highly effective programme. But at the same time, it should allow quality-controlled market entry to others to meet the new ambitious growth target. 

“AELP also hopes that the design of the revamped programme will be much more responsive to in-year demand. Furthermore, getting the plans right for expanding the programme for 16- to 18-year-olds will be critical.”

ESFA said that the details on new traineeship opportunities for 16- to 18-year-olds will be published shortly.