Skills England has released its Assessment of priority skills to 2030 , offering the first cross-sector view of projected employment demand across the ten industries that government have identified as central to the Industrial Strategy and Plan for Change. Developed with the government departments responsible for each sector, the report applies a consistent methodology to estimate future skills needs.
For training providers, particularly in digital and technology, the findings provide an early indication of where significant demand is expected. Skills England’s intention is to build an authoritative, shared understanding of the UK’s skills needs, enabling better planning across education, industry and policy. The data is at an early stage of development and should be read as an initial signal of possible trends rather than a definitive forecast.
All estimates carry a high degree of uncertainty. The modelling does not consider retraining or upskilling of the existing workforce (particularly significant in AI), nor does it reflect shifts in skill requirements within occupations as technology evolves. It assumes the current flow of workers will meet replacement demand, which is unlikely in many fields. These limitations mean the figures should be seen as an informed guide, not a fixed outcome.
Priority digital and technology occupations were identified using job advert data, sector reports, and expert feedback. The final list highlights key roles but does not capture all essential or mixed skills needed to use new technologies. Workforce numbers from 2020–2024 were analysed and projected to 2030 using overall sector growth, as detailed occupation-specific trends were not available, though recent data suggest the sector has returned to pre-pandemic patterns.
Digital and technology: strong growth in advanced roles
Digital and technology stands out for both the scale of projected demand and the level of skill required. Four of the six occupations with the largest additional demand to 2030 are in this sector. Programmers and software development professionals top the list, with an estimated 87,000 additional roles. ‘IT business analysts, architects and system designers’, ‘IT managers’ and ‘IT directors’ also feature prominently.
This level of demand is comparable to that seen in adult social care, where care workers and home carers account for 90,000 additional roles, the highest single occupational increase in the report. However, unlike adult social care, where most roles require qualifications below level 4, the digital sector’s projected growth is concentrated in advanced roles at level 4 and above.
The reach of these digital occupations extends across the economy. Programmers are listed as a priority occupation in seven sectors, from advanced manufacturing to financial services. IT business analysts appear in six sectors. This pattern highlights the role of digital skills as a foundation for innovation and productivity in industries well beyond the technology sector itself.
Comparison with other growth sectors
The clean energy sector, another government priority, is also projected to see strong employment growth, but with a more balanced demand across qualification levels. The creative industries show modest growth in high-level roles alongside more entry and mid-level opportunities. In both cases, the distribution contrasts with digital, where the demand is sharply weighted towards advanced skills.
Professional and business services and the clean energy industries show relatively low growth in priority occupations compared with the sector as a whole. This reflects the fact that the report focuses on a small number of key roles within each sector, rather than capturing full workforce demand.
Education pathways: mixed alignment with demand
The report tracks the main routes into priority occupations. In higher education, 70% of computing graduates enter such roles. This is lower than for nursing and midwifery graduates, who have near-total progression rates, but higher than for Engineering (68%), Economics (65%) or Physics and astronomy (60%).
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In further education, alignment is weaker. Only 35% of learners studying digital technology progress into priority occupations. This compares with engineering and construction subjects, which show the highest proportions of employed recent education leavers in these roles.
On apprenticeships, there is no disambiguated data for digital and tech, but overall, 57% of recent starts were on an apprenticeship that is aligned to a priority occupation. For those that achieve an apprenticeship aligned to a priority occupation and are in employment, it is estimated that 80% will work in a priority occupation. This is highest for apprenticeships aligned to a priority occupation in Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies; Health, Public Services and Care; and Construction, Planning, and the Built Environment.
Implications for training providers
The data suggests that digital skills demand will remain concentrated in high-skill, cross-sector roles. Yet the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC codes) system used in the analysis does not capture emerging specialisms such as AI engineering or advanced cyber security, and it cannot reflect rapid changes within established roles.
For training providers, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Anticipating demand for skills not yet fully recognised in official data will be critical. There is scope to strengthen progression routes from FE into higher qualifications and to design programmes that prepare learners for multi-sector digital roles at level 4 and above. Providers can also play a role in addressing areas where the data indicates misalignment between education output and occupational demand.
Next steps
Skills England will refine its methodology, improve projections and extend the analysis to capture skills needs at national, sectoral and regional levels. The current assessment offers an informed starting point for planning. It signals that advanced digital skills will remain central to the UK’s growth ambitions to 2030, and that maintaining a strong pipeline of these skills will require coordinated action between education, employers and policymakers.
