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3D 360 Skills Training has been assessed as meeting the matrix Standard, the national quality mark for information, advice and guidance (IAG) services, delivered by The Growth Company on behalf of the Department for Education. The assessment took place between 26 August and 7 September 2026 and judged the Standard fully met, with the next accreditation review due in 2029.
Closing the UK's Manufacturing Skills Gap
3D 360’s Skills Bootcamp attracts an unusually wide range of people, most with no background in manufacturing at all. For example, most recently, learners have included a graduate struggling to find work, an IT project manager moving into nuclear, someone running a family graphic-design business, and a trainer planning to use new 3D printing skills to support ex-offenders, homeless people and other disadvantaged groups into employment.
Often learners would not describe themselves as manufacturers, yet that is precisely what they become: turning a digital design into a physical part with 3D printing and CAD is manufacturing, whatever they choose to call it.
Across the Bootcamp, 26% of learners are women, a third were unemployed before starting, and 18% are from ethnic-minority backgrounds.
That diversity matters. The UK’s manufacturing industries, everything from 3D printing and robotics to automation and digital engineering, need roughly 148,000 more people by 2035, and that gap will not be closed by retraining people already on the factory floor alone. Seven in ten (71%) relevant roles are already in critical or elevated demand, which means the door needs to stay open to people from every kind of background, not just those who already work in the sector.
The UK’s advanced-manufacturing sector, including areas such as automation, robotics, digital engineering and high-tech production, is expected to need around 148,000 workers in priority occupations by 2035. That figure includes approximately 47,000 additional workers linked to growth and 101,000 replacements for people expected to leave these occupations. Skills England says 71% of the 25 priority occupations are already experiencing critical or elevated demand, reinforcing the need to attract talent from a wider range of backgrounds -not only people already working in manufacturing
What the matrix Standard confirms
The matrix Standard is an independent check on how well an organisation supports people to make informed decisions about learning, skills and work. Assessors spoke with staff, learners and employer partners, and reviewed policies, learner data and course records covering the full learner journey, from first enquiry through to progression into employment.
The assessment found that advice and guidance is built into every stage of a 3D 360 Skills Bootcamp, delivered by trainers with direct industry experience rather than a separate careers team working at arm’s length from the curriculum.
What this means if you are starting a Career in 3D Printing, CAD or Industry 4.0
For anyone weighing up a move into 3D printing, CAD or wider Industry 4.0 skills, this confirms that the guidance on offer, from initial enquiry through to individual learning plans and one to one support, is impartial, personalised and grounded in real industry knowledge.
More than 2,500 learners have trained with the organisation to date, with 85% progressing into higher employment and 97% saying they would recommend the training. Support does not stop at completion either: former learners can access short courses and ongoing peer communities on Facebook and Discord.
The assessment also highlighted a strong commitment to widening access, including work with schools and youth groups such as Chorley Youth Zone and free 3D printer provision to local schools. A third of learners are aged over 50, showing that a career change into advanced manufacturing is open at any stage of working life.
What this means for employers
For businesses considering the DWP-funded 3D Printing, 3D CAD & Industry 4.0 Skills Bootcamps for their teams or other training, matrix accreditation is independent assurance that the advice given to staff before, during and after training meets a recognised national standard, rather than being taken on trust, at a time when skills gaps of this scale make workforce planning harder to get right.
The assessment noted that curriculum and guidance are shaped directly by employer partners, including advanced manufacturing businesses such as Novus, so the advice learners receive is tied to genuine industry need rather than generic careers content.
Roger Chapman, Head of the matrix Service for The Growth Company, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for 3D 360 Skills Training and I would like to congratulate the team on their success. We believe that at the heart of high-quality advice and support services are strong leadership, excellent service and a focus on continuous improvement, all underpinned by effective use of the resources available. The matrix Standard is designed to benchmark organisations against best practice in these areas. With their accreditation success, 3D 360 Skills Training is working to provide the best possible support to their clients.”
That endorsement from the accrediting body reflects what 360 Skills Training set out to build in the first place, guidance that is embedded in every stage of training rather than bolted on as an afterthought.
Paul Bullock FNucI MIET, Managing Director, 360 Skills Training “Achieving the matrix Standard is important to us because good training is about much more than delivering technical content and a qualification. It is about helping people understand where their skills can take them, giving them informed and impartial guidance, and creating a genuine pathway into employment, progression or a new career. Advanced manufacturing needs talent from a much broader range of backgrounds if we are going to close the skills gap. We see people coming to us at very different stages of their careers, often with no previous manufacturing experience, and our job is to help them build both the technical capability and the confidence to take that next step. The matrix accreditation provides independent recognition of the quality of that support and, importantly, of the commitment of the whole 360 Skills Training team to achieving positive outcomes for our learners and employers.”
Find out more
The DWP-funded 3D Printing, 3D CAD & Industry 4.0 Skills Bootcamps are open now to individuals and employers across Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside.
Find out more at: 3D Printing, 3D CAD & Industry 4.0 Funded Skills Bootcamps
