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Guidance

AI foundation skills for work benchmark

Published 28 January 2026

Applies to England

漏 Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at /government/publications/ai-foundation-skills-for-work/ai-foundation-skills-for-work-benchmark

Benchmark skills

The Skills England聽鈥�AI skills for the UK workforce鈥櫬爎eport聽identified聽that Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills fall into 3聽domains:聽

  • technical skills聽
  • non-technical skills聽
  • responsible or ethical skills聽

There are 6 AI foundation skills for work, grouped by domain.聽

Together these skills set a benchmark that helps:聽聽

  • industry and training providers design聽good quality聽training that gives people the basic聽skills they need聽to use AI tools safely and responsibly聽
  • workers to understand the skills they need to use simple AI tools confidently and responsibly

1. Technical AI foundation skills

The foundation skills in the technical domain聽are:聽

  • writing clear instructions for AI 迟辞辞濒蝉听
  • using AI tools to support routine processes and tasks聽聽

These skills help people to feel confident using AI,聽meaning they聽are more likely to use AI in work.

Writing clear instructions improves the quality and accuracy of the information AI 辫谤辞惫颈诲别蝉.听鲍蝉颈苍驳 AI for everyday tasks, such as drafting messages or organising information, helps people save time and work more efficiently.

2. Non-technical AI foundation skills

The foundation skills in the non-technical domain are:聽

  • using simple software that automates work tasks聽
  • adjusting how an AI tool works to get better results聽聽

These skills help people to automate routine tasks such as sending reminders without needing coding skills.聽聽

Adjusting AI settings聽helps people choose things like聽tone of writing聽or privacy and safety settings.

3. Responsible and ethical AI foundation skills

The foundation skills in the responsible and ethical domain are:聽

  • understanding聽the risks and consequences associated with AI 耻蝉别听听
  • analysing information using AI 迟辞辞濒蝉听聽

These skills support safe and secure AI 耻蝉别.听听

AI is not always聽accurate. Understanding the risks helps people decide when to rely on AI or when to use聽their own judgement.聽聽

Having the skills to analyse information using AI is also part of responsible use.聽This聽means people can聽make informed decisions by:聽

  • 肠丑别肠办颈苍驳听AI outputs聽for accuracy聽
  • 蝉辫辞迟迟颈苍驳听别谤谤辞谤蝉
  • recognising patterns and trends

AI upskilling

Anyone who completes an聽聽covering all 6 foundation skills聽will receive a virtual badge to show they have met this benchmark.聽

These courses and virtual badges help employers to know that workers can use simple AI tools in a safe,聽effective聽and responsible way.

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