UK Government launches £187m ‘TechFirst’ skills programme with AI focus
UK’s £187m TechFirst scheme will deliver AI and digital skills to 1m pupils and 7.5m adults, backed by industry and regional training partnerships.
The UK Government has announced a £187 million national skills initiative, TechFirst, aimed at embedding digital and AI capabilities across education and early-career pathways.
Launched by the Prime Minister on 8 June, the programme includes a dedicated £24 million investment, TechYouth, to support 1 million secondary school pupils by 2028.
Three further strands target higher education, doctoral research and regional adoption:
- TechGrad (£96.8m), AI, cyber and computer science scholarships for 1,000 undergraduates per year
- TechExpert (£48.4m), £10,000 grants for 500 PhD students working on AI-related research
- TechLocal (£18m), community-level seed funding with regional panels selecting local providers
The initiative is part of a broader strategy to future-proof the workforce. DSIT projections suggest up to 10 million UK workers could be using AI tools by 2035, with the UK AI market potentially reaching £800 billion.
A national online platform will supplement the offer, building on the 100,000 pupils already engaged in the NCSC’s CyberFirst Explorers programme.
Implications for L&D providers
Learning vendors and internal L&D teams are likely to see increased demand for:
- AI literacy and foundational digital skills
- Employer-aligned upskilling pathways, particularly for mid-career professionals
- Partnership delivery in regions receiving TechLocal funding
- Workforce transition support as AI adoption reshapes roles
Major tech employers, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, BT and NVIDIA, are backing the programme through training and curriculum partnerships. Separately, a cross-sector coalition will support training for 7.5 million UK adults by 2030.
Sector commentary
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer framed the strategy as ‘putting the power of AI into the hands of the next generation’. NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang described the UK as aiming to be ‘an AI maker, not an AI taker’, while Google’s Debbie Weinstein called national upskilling ‘essential for supercharging growth’.
For L&D professionals, the opportunity lies in shaping content, capability and local delivery, particularly as TechFirst looks to embed learning across both formal education and workplace routes.