£400,000 AI training scheme launches in Barnsley with paid placements
Key Points
- Barnsley College will run an AI training route worth more than £400,000
- Six months of Level 4 apprenticeship training comes with paid work placements
- Applications open this autumn, with the first learners starting in early 2027
- A second scheme from September helps jobseekers use AI on CVs and interviews
- Jobcentre Plus refers people onto the jobseeker course
Barnsley College will run a training route into AI jobs worth more than £400,000, with paid work placements attached, under two schemes the government announced on Tuesday (25 August).
The AI Career Launchpad gives local people of all ages six months of training linked to a Level 4 apprenticeship, alongside placements that pay while they learn.
The roles it feeds into include helping businesses use AI tools, supporting teams with data and digital systems, improving customer services and finding uses for technology in day-to-day work.
Applications open this autumn and the first group of learners starts in early 2027.
Businesses that sign up get early access to people training in AI, with the government funding the placements.
The programme also lets firms test where AI cuts admin time, speeds up services and supports growth. Barnsley College will publish the curriculum free once the programme finishes, so colleges and training providers elsewhere can run the same course.
“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,” said David Akeroyd, Principal and CEO at Barnsley College.
A second scheme, Getting Job Ready with AI, starts in September and targets jobseekers who already use technology in everyday life but want more confidence applying it to a job search.
The support covers searching for suitable roles, tailoring CVs and cover letters, practising interview questions and understanding how employers already use digital tools at work. Jobcentre Plus will refer people onto the course.
The pilot sits inside a wider Department for Work and Pensions push to move more people into work, including turning jobcentres into a universal jobs and careers service and expanding work coach support.
“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,” said Andrew Western, Minister for Employment.
Western pointed to £3.5 billion of investment in tailored employment support for people with health conditions and disabilities, and a £2.5 billion youth employment support package.
The UK’s first tech town
Both schemes land six months after Barnsley became the UK’s first Tech Town, a place-based pilot backed by Cisco, Microsoft, Google and Adobe.
The government wants 10 million UK workers to have AI skills by 2030, and treats Barnsley as the test bed for how that works in a single borough.
“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,” said Kanishka Narayan, AI Minister.
Amy Wilkinson, Marketing Manager at Barnsley firm Anderson Power Generation, took the Build Your App In 10 Weeks course under the borough’s IgniteAI programme and built an HR system for her employer.
“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,” said Wilkinson.
Barnsley College staff have taken a Level 2 Introduction to AI course of their own. Matthew Sowerby, Tutorial Team Leader in the Digital and Creative Industries department, uses it to build individual lesson plans across Level 2, Level 3, Extended Diploma and T Level students.
“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,” said Sowerby.
An assessment launching in autumn, led by Adobe and Barnsley CVS, will map how local charities, community groups and social enterprises already use AI and where extra support would help most. The findings shape Adobe’s work in the area, including targeted training and a showcase event.
The government ran a separate pilot of AI skills summer bootcamps in North West England earlier this month, ahead of a national rollout next year.
