The UK government is launching a new skills programme to support pupils across the country with the skills and tools needed to attain AI-powered jobs in the future.

Part of this skills drive is a new £187 million government “TechFirst” programme to bring digital skills and AI learning into classrooms and communities and train up people of all ages and backgrounds for tech careers in the future.

The announcement comes as research commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) shows that by 2035, around 10 million workers will be in roles where AI will be part of their role or responsibilities in some form, with a further 3.9 million in roles directly in AI.

The flagship strand of this programme “TechYouth” – backed by £24 million of government funding – will give one million students over three years across every secondary school in the UK the chance to learn about technology and gain access to new skills training and career opportunities.

There will also be an online platform to inspire and educate students about the potential and computing and tech careers – building on CyberFirst’s Explorers which has access to most secondary schools in the UK with 100,000 students registered already. This will bring together learning tools and training opportunities in a streamlined accessible space.

In each of the UK’s regions and nations, a local delivery partner will be selected by DSIT to run the programme and deliver activities to schools and colleges in local areas.

The AI sector alone is valued at £72.3 billion and is projected to exceed £800 billion by 2035. It is growing 30 times faster than the rest of the economy, employing over 64,000 people across more than 3,700 companies.

But despite these strengths, access to AI skills in the UK remains one of the biggest barriers to growth – especially for startups, scaleups, and regions outside London.

According to a newly released TechNation report, one in three UK tech founders say the availability of top talent is their biggest barrier to growth.

“We are putting the power of AI into the hands of the next generation – so they can shape the future, not be shaped by it,” prime minister Keir Starmer claimed.

“This training programme will unlock opportunity in every classroom – and lays the foundations for a new era of growth.

“Too many children from working families like the one I grew up in are written off. I am determined to end that.

“This programme is the Plan for Change in action – breaking down barriers, driving innovation, and giving every young person the chance of a good, well paid job and a bright future.”

TechFirst is also set to support over 4,000 graduates, researchers, and innovators through three additional strands.

TechGrad, which will receive £96.8m in funding, will support 1,000 domestic students with undergraduate scholarships in areas like AI, security, and computer sciences, as well as 100 Research MSc places in key tech sectors, and 100 elite AI scholarships.

TechExpert, which will get £48.4m in funding, will provide up to £10,000 in additional funding to 500 domestic PhD students conducting research in tech, and TechLocal will get £18m to offer seed funding to help regional innovators and small businesses develop new tech products and adopt AI.

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Industry players like IBM, BAE Systems, QinetiQ, BT, Microsoft, and the Careers & Enterprise Company, have backed the initiative.

“We are getting Brits ready for jobs of the future by helping millions across the country gain vital digital skills in AI and beyond,” science, innovation, and technology secretary Peter Kyle said.

“Embedding these skills into our education system and local communities will help people of all backgrounds and ensure tech talent flourishes in every corner of our nation.

“These partnerships with industry will translate skills into real jobs and economic growth, putting more money in people’s pockets and breaking down barriers to opportunity. This is our Plan for Change in action – investing in the skills that will power our economy and deliver prosperity for working people across the country.”

Alongside TechFirst, the Prime Minister also announced a new government-industry partnership to train 7.5 million UK workers in essential skills to use AI by 2030, equivalent to around 20% of the UK workforce.

The training, supporting my leading technology companies, will focus on enabling workers to use and interact with AI systems such as chatbots and large language models to boost productivity across a wide range of roles.

Further, the UK government and NVIDIA have signed two Memorandums of Understanding to support the development of a nationwide AI talent pipeline and accelerating critical university-led research into the role of AI in advances connectivity technologies.