Every adult in the UK is now being invited to learn how to use artificial intelligence at work, without paying a penny. The government has opened up a national package of free AI courses that it says will help people keep pace with rapid changes in the workplace and support a target of training 10 million workers by 2030. I see it as one of the clearest signals yet that AI skills are being treated as basic economic infrastructure, not a niche tech specialism.
The offer is pitched at everyone from shop-floor staff and care workers to office managers and small business owners, not just software engineers. By tying the scheme to everyday tasks such as drafting emails, analysing spreadsheets or handling customer queries, ministers are trying to turn AI from an abstract buzzword into a practical tool that can boost productivity and, they hope, protect jobs.
What the free AI offer actually includes
At the heart of the initiative is a promise that Every adult in the UK can access a set of newly benchmarked courses that focus on practical AI skills for work. Officials describe these as structured learning pathways that start with basic concepts, such as what generative models do, then move into hands-on exercises like using chatbots to summarise reports or generate marketing copy, with content aligned to recognised benchmark standards. I read this as an attempt to avoid the scattergun quality of many online tutorials by setting a consistent bar for what “AI literate” should mean in the workplace.
The government says the programme is a joint effort with major employers and training providers, expanding an earlier digital skills offer into a much broader AI-focused catalogue. That expansion is reflected in the ambition to reach 10 million workers by 2030, a figure that appears repeatedly in official plans. In practice, that means a mix of short online modules, longer accredited courses and sector-specific content, for example tailored guidance for retail, hospitality or manufacturing staff on how to plug AI tools into existing workflows.
Who is behind the push and what they say it will do
Ministers are keen to frame the scheme as a partnership between the state and business rather than a purely top-down project. One strand of reporting describes how Free AI Training for All is being delivered as Government and Industry Join Forces to Equip up to 10 Million Workers with Essential Skills, with employers encouraged to embed the content into their own staff development plans and everyday workplace uses of AI. I see that language, including the explicit reference to Essential Skills, as a signal that this is meant to sit alongside literacy and numeracy rather than as an optional extra.
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Liz Kendall, has been positioned as the political face of the rollout. Speaking alongside industry partners, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Liz Kendall, set out the government’s aim to put 10 million people through AI skills training by 2030 and described the programme as a new baseline for digital capability in the labour market. That message, reported in detail in coverage of her Speaking engagement, underlines a belief that AI literacy will be as important to growth as physical infrastructure or tax policy.
How the scheme works for ordinary workers
From a user’s perspective, the offer is designed to be as low-friction as possible. Every adult across the UK can sign up online, choose from beginner or intermediate tracks and then work through modules at their own pace, with no tuition fees and no requirement to be in formal education. Guidance on how to register, what information is needed and how to access the new courses has been laid out in step-by-step explainers that emphasise that Your details are used to match you with appropriate content rather than to gatekeep access, and that Every eligible learner can start immediately once they have created an account on the central portal. That practical onboarding process is described in detail in sign-up guides.
The content itself is pitched at people who may never have written a line of code. Introductory modules walk through simple tasks like using a chatbot to draft a customer email, asking an AI assistant to summarise a long PDF, or generating ideas for social media posts, before moving into more advanced topics such as prompt design, basic data handling and the limits of current systems. Official material stresses that the courses are Designed to improve digital confidence and productivity, particularly for workers in smaller firms that have been slower to adopt AI compared with large companies, a point highlighted in Public Sector News coverage of the expansion.
Why the government says AI skills matter now
Behind the policy is a stark assessment of how automation is reshaping work. Ministers have repeatedly argued that without a rapid upgrade in skills, workers risk being left behind by tools that can already draft reports, triage customer queries or analyse large datasets in seconds. In official statements, the Government has said it wants “AI to work for ordinary people” and has linked the training directly to concerns about job security, a message that featured prominently in coverage that noted the article had attracted exactly 539 Comments from readers engaging with the announcement. That public reaction was captured in reporting on how the Government framed the stakes.
At the same time, officials are careful not to overpromise. Liz Kendall has acknowledged that the programme will not magically “save every job”, but has argued that it can help workers move into roles that use AI to create more efficient workflows and processes rather than being displaced by them. That nuance comes through in interviews where Liz Kendall explains that the aim is to give people enough understanding to adapt as tasks change, a position summarised in analysis asking whether the training will actually protect roles or simply make businesses more productive with fewer staff, as discussed in job impact coverage.
Partnerships, scale and the road to 2030
Delivering training to 10 million workers in just a few years requires a significant expansion of capacity. The Government has expanded its free basic AI training offer in a number of ways, including increasing the range of both courses and partners involved, from universities and colleges to private training firms and large employers that can host in-house sessions. That scaling strategy is described in workforce-focused reporting that notes how the Government is trying to embed AI modules into existing professional development frameworks rather than building everything from scratch.
There is also a clear attempt to align the national offer with international narratives about AI readiness. Some coverage presents Key Points that include the decision to Launch the UK government’s AI training initiative on January 28, 2026, offering free courses to all adults to upskill for an AI-driven economy, and to position the country as a leader in responsible adoption. Those Key Points are laid out in explainers that describe how officials want to Launch the UK scheme as a model others could copy, as set out in Key Points briefings.
