The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 25 August 2026.
Two new schemes will launch in Barnsley to help residents use AI in simple, practical ways – from applying for jobs to preparing for interviews.
- Two new schemes will launch in Barnsley to help residents use AI in simple, practical ways – from applying for jobs and preparing for interviews, to training for roles where digital and AI tools are becoming part of day-to-day work.
- AI Career Launchpad will offer flexible training and paid work placements with employers, while the Getting Job Ready with AI pilot will support jobseekers.
- Comes six months after Barnsley became the UK’s first Tech Town, showing how AI can create new opportunities, strengthen local services and support economic growth in every postcode.
Residents and jobseekers in Barnsley will be able to get practical support to use AI to find work, build confidence and train for future careers, under two new schemes announced today (Tuesday 25 August).
The schemes are designed to help people benefit from AI in two clear ways. One will support people who want to train for jobs linked to AI, while the other will help jobseekers use AI tools when applying for work – such as finding suitable roles, improving CVs and cover letters, practising interview questions and understanding how digital tools are already being used in many workplaces.
The AI Career Launchpad, a partnership with Barnsley College worth more than £400,000, will offer local people of all ages a faster, more flexible route into AI jobs. Learners will get six months of training linked to a Level 4 apprenticeship, plus paid placements so they can gain experience while they learn.
The roles could include jobs helping businesses use AI tools, supporting teams with data and digital systems, improving customer services, or finding better ways to use technology in day-to-day work.
Local businesses that sign up will benefit by getting early access to people training in AI, with government-funded placements helping them bring fresh skills into their teams. The programme will also help firms test how AI could save time, reduce admin, improve services and help them grow.
Once the programme has been completed, its curriculum will be made freely available so colleges and training providers elsewhere can adopt it, spreading the Barnsley model to communities across the country.
From September, jobseekers in Barnsley will also get hands-on support through the new Getting Job Ready with AI pilot. This will help people who are already comfortable using technology in everyday life but want more confidence using AI and digital tools when looking for work or preparing for the workplace.
Tailored support could include using AI to search for suitable roles, tailor CVs and cover letters, prepare for interviews and understand how employers are already using digital tools in day-to-day jobs. People will be referred onto the course through Jobcentre Plus.
The pilot forms part of a wider drive by the DWP to get more people into work and help them progress once there, including reforming jobcentres into a genuine, universal jobs and careers service and expanding work coach support.
Minister for Employment, Andrew Western, said:
Getting more people into good jobs is at the heart of this government’s plan to spread opportunity to every postcode.
In Barnsley, we’re testing how AI can support that ambition, helping jobseekers build the confidence and skills they need to compete for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
This sits alongside the wider changes we’re making through jobcentres up and down the country, as well as investing £3.5 billion in tailored employment support to help people with health conditions and disabilities move into work. We’re also supporting young people into work through our £2.5 billion youth employment support package.
AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said:
AI is going to transform the world of work and our job is to make sure working people benefit from that change.
That starts with helping people understand how AI can be useful day to day – whether that means finding a job, learning new skills or building a career in a growing industry.
Barnsley is showing what this can look like in practice. As our first Tech Town, it is helping us find ways that can create opportunities for local people and support communities across the country.
Matt O’Neill, Barnsley Council’s Executive Director for Place, said:
Barnsley is proud to be the UK’s first Tech Town, and these new schemes are another important step in making sure local people can benefit from the opportunities that AI and digital technology can bring.
Our focus is on practical support that makes a real difference to residents’ lives – whether that’s helping someone build confidence to apply for work, supporting people to develop new skills, or giving local businesses access to the talent and ideas they need to grow and thrive as we’ve outlined in our Inclusive Economic Growth Strategy.
Tech Town is about using technology in ways that are inclusive, trusted and rooted in everyday life. By working with the government, Barnsley College, Jobcentre Plus and our local partners, we want to make sure residents, employers and communities across the borough are ready for the jobs and services of the future.
The learning from Barnsley will also help shape how other places across the country approach AI skills and adoption, showing how towns like ours can be a trailblazer and lead the way in creating opportunity and supporting inclusive economic growth.
David Akeroyd, Principal and CEO, Barnsley College, said:
The AI Career Launchpad opens up careers that have, until now, been concentrated elsewhere in the country. Students will develop their knowledge and understanding of AI whilst undertaking paid placements, so they gain real experience that immediately translates into the workplace.
Barnsley’s Tech Town status has given us the opportunity to look closely at how AI can support our staff, students and wider community, and colleagues across the College have responded with curiosity, invention and a willingness to try things, alongside a clear sense of responsibility.
Our focus is on using AI well, not simply because it is there. That means helping people recognise where it adds value, without losing sight of the fact that human judgement and critical thinking remain essential. This investment lets us take that approach out of the College and into the wider Barnsley economy, so local people and employers benefit together.
The pilot will help jobseekers build confidence in the kinds of digital skills employers are increasingly looking for.
The news comes six months after Barnsley was named the UK’s first Tech Town, acting as the national trailblazer for how AI can improve everyday life. Since then a range of schemes empowering local people and businesses to take advantage of AI have been rolling out.
Amy Wilkinson, who works as a Marketing Manager for local firm Anderson Power Generation, went on the Build Your App In 10 Weeks course as part of Barnsley’s IgniteAI programme. She built a new HR system for the business which has completely streamlined their HR process, reducing the administrative burden and allowing more time to focus on productivity.
She said: “I’m living proof of the benefits of Barnsley being a Tech Town. I’ve been through the Build Your App In 10 Weeks programme with Enterprising Barnsley and IgniteAI, using the skills I learnt to build a new HR system for the business.
“It’s helped completely streamline our HR process, saving people time and effort on administrative processes to focus on being more productive. It’s worked so well we’re now looking to market this for other businesses to use. AI is enabling people to do things they didn’t think possible and to unlock economic potential.”
Meanwhile Barnsley College is supporting staff to build the skills, confidence and critical understanding needed to champion AI responsibly across education. For Matthew Sowerby, Tutorial Team Leader in the Digital and Creative Industries department, completing the Level 2 Introduction to AI course developed for Barnsley College staff has helped turn AI from something experimental into a practical tool for teaching, planning and student support.
Matthew said: “Before doing the course, I had dabbled with AI and used it a little bit in my work, but I didn’t properly know how to use it to the best of its ability.
“The main barrier I was facing was not getting the result I wanted. I would ask an AI system to do something, it would not give me what I needed, and I would end up doing it myself anyway. What the course helped me do was identify which tools were better for which tasks, and how to get the best out of them.”
“AI has helped me create individual lesson plans and differentiate them across Level 2, Level 3, Extended Diploma and T Level students. It’s sped things up, made things simpler and made things more interesting.”
Alongside the two new schemes announced today, an assessment launching in Autumn will look at how local charities, community groups and social enterprises currently are already using AI, and where further support could make the biggest difference.
Led by Adobe and Barnsley CVS, the findings will shape Adobe’s work in the area, including targeted training and a showcase event where organisations can see what support is available.
The schemes build on Barnsley’s Tech Town partnership between government, industry and local organisations, supported by companies including Cisco, Microsoft, Google and Adobe.
Lessons from Barnsley will inform how similar approaches could be used elsewhere as the government works to equip 10 million UK workers with AI skills by 2030, and deliver on the Prime Minister’s reforms to ensure every young person has a clear route into skilled work.
These efforts are continuing nationwide, and earlier this month the government announced the pilot of new AI skills summer bootcamps in North West England, ahead of a national rollout next year.
Background information
- Applications for the AI Career Launchpad will open this autumn, with the first group of learners due to begin in early 2027.
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