UK government expands free AI training to 10 million workers by 2030

A major expansion of the UK’s AI Skills Boost programme opens free AI training to every adult, with new public and private sector partners onboarded and a new unit launched to assess AI’s impact on jobs, productivity, and skills across the economy.

The UK government has significantly expanded its national AI upskilling programme, committing to provide free, government-benchmarked AI training to 10 million workers by 2030. The move positions AI capability as a core workforce priority and signals a shift toward treating foundational AI skills as economic infrastructure rather than a specialist add-on.

The announcement, led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology alongside Skills England, extends eligibility to every adult in the UK and brings new public sector employers, business groups, and technology companies into the AI Skills Boost partnership. For education, training providers, and employers, the scale and structure of the initiative raise practical questions about implementation, capacity, and long-term impact.

Inside the expanded AI Skills Boost programme

At the center of the initiative is a refreshed AI Skills Hub, which hosts short, free courses developed by industry and checked against Skills England’s AI foundation skills benchmark. Completion leads to a government-backed virtual AI foundations badge.

The training is designed to be accessible, with some courses taking under 20 minutes, and focuses on practical workplace use of AI tools, including content drafting and administrative support. According to government figures, more than one million courses have already been completed since June, with the new phase aiming to reach nearly a third of the UK workforce this decade, including at least two million small and medium-sized enterprise employees.

New partners joining the programme include the NHS, Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, British Chambers of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses, and Local Government Association, alongside a long list of technology and professional services firms.

The government describes the programme as the largest targeted training effort since the creation of the Open University, underscoring its ambition to normalize AI literacy across sectors rather than confining it to technical roles.

New focus on jobs, skills, and labor market impact

Alongside the training expansion, the government has launched a new AI and the Future of Work Unit, tasked with monitoring how AI adoption is reshaping jobs, skills demand, and productivity. The unit will advise ministers on when policy intervention is needed and will be supported by an expert panel spanning industry, academia, and trade unions.

Panel members include Daniel Susskind, Confederation of British Industry representatives, and the Prospect Union, reflecting an attempt to balance economic growth with worker protection.

This policy strand responds to mounting evidence that AI adoption remains uneven. Government research cited alongside the announcement shows only 21 percent of UK workers feel confident using AI at work, while just one in six UK businesses were using AI as of mid-2025. Microbusinesses, in particular, lag significantly behind larger firms.

Funding, pathways, and education implications

The announcement also includes £27 million in funding for the TechLocal scheme, part of the wider TechFirst programme. The funding will support local employers, professional practice courses, graduate traineeships, and work experience opportunities linked to AI and digital roles.

In higher education, the government has opened applications for the Spärck AI Scholarship, offering up to 100 funded places for AI and STEM master’s students across nine UK universities. The scholarships combine tuition and living cost support with industry placements and mentoring.

For schools and colleges, the policy direction reinforces AI as a cross-cutting literacy rather than a standalone subject. While the training offer is aimed at adults, its framing aligns with earlier government messaging at BETT that positioned AI understanding as essential for future workforce readiness, not optional enrichment.

Industry involvement and unresolved tensions

Major technology firms including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM, Salesforce, and Sage remain central to delivery, providing much of the course content hosted on the AI Skills Hub.

That reliance raises a familiar question for education and workforce leaders: whether large-scale AI upskilling initiatives are building independent digital capability or primarily accelerating adoption of specific commercial platforms. The government has emphasized benchmarking and standard-setting as safeguards, but the balance between literacy and vendor alignment will be closely watched.

What this means for EdTech and skills providers

For EdTech companies, training providers, and institutions, the expanded programme creates both opportunity and pressure. Demand for AI-aligned content, assessment frameworks, and credentialing is likely to increase, while expectations around accessibility, speed, and cost are set by a free national offer.

The policy direction is clear: AI skills are being treated as a baseline requirement for participation in the labor market. The harder question now is whether employers, schools, and training providers are being given the time, capacity, and support needed to turn short courses into sustained capability.

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