Why reskilling and flexible training are vital: Breaking down the Skills England report

At Multiverse, we’ve been keenly following the establishment of Skills England, a new government agency sponsored by the Department for Education, which brings together partners from inside and outside government to drive improvements to England’s skills landscape, to power economic growth and opportunity.

As the country’s authoritative voice on current and future skills needs, one of Skills England’s primary responsibilities is identifying skills gaps across the economy through comprehensive skills assessments.

The goal is to create a skills system ‘fit for the future’, and to ensure that the government’s skills strategy and policies are informed by a data-driven approach.

Skills England published its Skills for Growth and Opportunity Report(opens new window) in June 2025, following a period of data analysis and engagement with employers and other stakeholders about the country’s growth and skills offer.

The report brings together a wealth of evidence including analysis of Government data and insights from 743 stakeholders, including employers.

It identifies the challenges faced by employers in developing skills pipelines and the critical importance of the skills system in delivering the Government’s missions and wider priorities, including its Industrial Strategy.

Crucially, it highlights long-standing skills shortages across the eight Industrial Strategy Growth-Driving Sectors:

And in two additional ‘critical’ sectors:

Skills England offers an overarching perspective on themes pervasive across these sectors.

These include the escalating demand for highly qualified workers, the prevalence of gender inequality in various priority sectors, and the importance of the wider education system, including careers advice, in addressing skills challenges.

Three themes particularly caught our attention:

According to Skills England, the unprecedented pace of technological change is a ‘major driver of changing skills needs across sectors’ with AI in particular reshaping the future of the workforce.

For example, in the creative industries, 69% of employers say their staff need urgent retraining due to new technologies. The report demonstrates that both advanced digital skills and digital literacy are in critical demand - with basic digital skills set to become the UK’s largest skills gap by 2030.

Employers highlighted the importance of both reskilling the existing workforce alongside upskilling new entrants, with apprenticeships identified as an important tool in enabling this, particularly in relation to the adoption of AI and data science.

Despite this technological revolution, Multiverse research has shown that more than half of workers have received fewer than five hours of training on AI, and just one third (34%) of FTSE 100 companies reference AI training in their latest annual reports.

That’s why we’ve recently launched a commitment to train 15,000 new AI apprentices over the next two years.

Employers see the value in apprenticeships but are calling for more flexible, responsive models such as shorter, flexible courses or ‘bolt-on’ training in AI, to meet business needs as they evolve.

Multiverse has long been calling for increased flexibility in the apprenticeship system so as to widen access to learning and ensure the apprenticeship system truly serves the immediate and evolving needs of businesses.

The Department for Education is currently developing a Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy, which will articulate its long-term vision for skills.

While we don’t expect major changes any time soon, decisions also lie ahead regarding the future of the Growth and Skills Levy, and how much increased flexibility this might offer for employers in the future.

Skills England’s assessment is a critical first step in closing the nation’s skills gaps and designing a system that will unlock economic growth. The message is clear - investing in workforce skills is instrumental to driving productivity and economic growth.