1000s of working adults to be offered free STEM courses

Thousands of working adults will soon be able to access free technical courses.

The rollout is part of the government’s drive to rapidly upskill or retrain workers to plug ongoing skills gaps.

Sixty-five short and modular courses will commence later this month at 10 Institutes of Technology (IoTs) across England in sought-after STEM subjects such as artificial intelligence and cyber security.

12 IoTs have so far been created with around £170 million in funding, but only 10 will take part in the initial scheme, and none of the 12 institutions are located in the North West or East of England.

A blend of classroom and remote online study will be used, and the courses will vary in length from 50 to 138 hours – giving more adults greater flexibility in how and when they learn, so they can fit it around their lives.

The programmes will be available to working adults aged 19 and over, with priority given to those employed locally to the IoT, in related industries such as digital or healthcare. The IoTs have worked in partnership with local employers to ensure courses address existing skills gaps, meaning employees from both large and SME businesses will be able to gain in demand new skills or retrain – so they can progress on to higher skilled, higher paid jobs in their area.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Michelle Donelan said: “Making sure more people can train and develop at any stage of their life to secure high skilled, high paid jobs is at the heart of our plans.

“These fantastic new courses will open up more training alternatives for adults, address skills gaps in our economy and level up opportunities across the country.”

From September 2022, the government will start rolling out newly approved “Higher Technical Qualifications”, beginning with Digital, and followed by Construction and Health in 2023. A full suite of qualifications will be available by 2025.

The government says these qualifications will provide a natural progression route for both young people taking T Levels or A levels, and adults looking to upskill or retrain – enabling them to take the next step up and gain higher technical skills in key subjects like STEM.