Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide training opportunities for people to upskill in the use of artificial intelligence.

​Through our Industrial Strategy, published in June 2025, this government will ensure the skills system and employment support align with strategic economic priorities, including the needs of priority sectors and transformative opportunities like artificial intelligence (AI).

The government’s commitment to realising the benefits of AI was also illustrated in January, when we agreed to take forward all 50 recommendations from Matt Clifford’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.

New short courses in areas such as digital, AI, and engineering will be introduced in England, funded through the Growth and Skills Levy, to support Industrial Strategy sectors like Creative Industries and Advanced Manufacturing from April 2026.

From January 2027, the department will launch the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, enabling individuals to learn, upskill and retrain across their working lives. The first modular courses for approval will support progression into Industrial Strategy priority sectors.

The government recently announced a joint commitment with leading technology companies to provide 7.5 million workers with essential AI skills by 2030, around 20% of the UK workforce. Companies such as Google, Microsoft and Accenture have committed to making high quality training materials widely available to workers in businesses, large and small, across the country free of charge over the next five years.