The Government has unveiled a major expansion of its current programme to upskill workers in the utilisation of AI in the workplace by making free AI training available for every adult in the UK.
This announcement comes as latest research revealed that only 21% of UK workers feel confident using AI at work and only 1 in 6 UK businesses were using AI at the middle of 2025. Micro-businesses are 45% less likely to adopt AI than large businesses.
The Government says that the expansion will upskill workers in practical AI skills for work, such as drafting text, creating content and completing administrative tasks, which could create more high-skilled jobs and free up workers from routine work. It aims to reach 10 million workers by the end of the decade, including at least 2 million SME employees.
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Chair of Skills England and Co-chair of the Digital Skills Council, Phil Smith, said: “AI is moving at an incredible pace and presents huge opportunity for productivity and growth. Skills England has worked rapidly with tech companies to make sure the courses chosen for the AI Skills Boost programme provide the quality and capability businesses need right now.
“It’s also a huge step forward that everyone who completes these short courses will get digital badges that properly recognise what they’ve learned. It’s a simple idea that will make a huge difference.”
