UK innovation diffusion and adoption survey
About the AI Upskilling fund pilot
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) recently announced a £7.4 million pilot scheme to subsidise the cost of AI skills training for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Professional Business Services (PBS) sector. Of this, £6.4 million is available. This pilot is funded through the £37.5 million Labour Market Evaluations and Pilots fund (LMEP), announced by the Chancellor at Spring Budget 2023.
Evidence shows that a lack of AI skills in businesses is hindering AI adoption, in part due to low investment in AI upskilling by UK businesses. This is particularly true in smaller companies. The pilot aims to increase AI adoption and productivity by incentivising greater employer-led investment in skills and training. Eligible businesses can apply for funding for up to 50% of the cost of AI skills training and other AI upskilling activities. The training should support employees to develop their technical skills and/or understanding of AI, helping them develop, deploy, or use AI in their role.
Specifically, the objectives of the pilot are to:
- stimulate employer investment in AI training
- address AI skills gaps in the UK workforce that are limiting AI adoption
- measure the impact of AI upskilling on business productivity and outcomes
Who can apply
To apply, you must be a representative of an individual business and the business must:
- be registered and operate in the UK
- employ between 1 to 249 employees in the UK
- be defined as an SME per the BEIS SME action plan: 2022 to 2025
- have been operating for at least 1 year at the time of application
- operate in the Professional and Business Services sector as defined by the SIC codes in Table 1 (where a business has multiple SIC codes, you are eligible to apply as long as at least one of the SIC codes is on the list)
We will not accept applications from consortiums and only accept one application per business.
Table 1: Eligible SIC codes
| SIC (Division) | Description |
|---|---|
| M – Professional, scientific, and technical activities (69) | Legal activities/accounting, bookkeeping and audit |
| M – Professional, scientific, and technical activities (70) | Activities of head offices, management consultancy |
| M – Professional, scientific, and technical activities (71) | Architectural and engineering activities, technical testing and analysis |
| M – Professional, scientific, and technical activities (72) | Scientific research and development |
| M – Professional, scientific, and technical activities (73) | Advertising and market research |
| M – Professional, scientific, and technical activities (74) | Other professional, scientific and technical activities |
| N – Administrative and support service activities (77) | Rental and leasing activities |
| N – Administrative and support service activities (78) | Employment activities |
| N – Administrative and support service activities (82) | Office administration and other business support activities |
Note: Businesses with these codes are eligible to apply. Other codes are not eligible.
Applying for funding
How much funding you can apply for
The aim of the pilot is to subsidise the cost of AI skills training by 50%. For example, a small-sized business can apply for up to £5,000 of grant funding to pay for 50% of AI skills training which costs £10,000.
You can apply for funding depending on the size of your business, as defined by BEIS SME action plan: 2022 to 2025, and the maximum amount of funding set out in Table 2. There is no minimum requirement on the amount of funding you can request.
We will fund a range of businesses across the micro, small and medium-sized business categories, and we may limit the total number of businesses that can be awarded funding in each size category. This will not change the maximum amount of funding available for each application.
If, over the course of the pilot, we do not receive enough applications from a category we may reallocate funding to the other categories.
Table 2: Maximum grant funding available
| Business size | Headcount | Annual Turnover | Balance Sheet Total | Maximum grant funding available (per applicant) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro | Under 10 | Under €2 million | Under €2 million | £2,500 |
| Small | Under 50 | Under €10 million | Under €10 million | £5,000 |
| Medium-sized | Under 250 | Under €50 million | Under €43 million | £10,000 |
What can funding be spent on
Funding awarded through this pilot can only be spent on eligible activities. Eligible training, courses and certification programmes will include, but are not limited to:
- off-the-shelf training courses
- classroom learning
- online or distance learning
- certification or accreditation programs
Third party development of bespoke training or learning resources may also be included, as long as the resources are for the individual business and not already available in the market.