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Apprenticeships units are a new government initiative, which is designed to make apprenticeship training more accessible and more impactful for both businesses and learners. Apprenticeship units allow learners to complete a segment of an existing apprenticeship standard, rather than completing the full curriculum. This allows businesses to address their skills gaps at a much faster pace and learners to apply their newly acquired skills sooner. Learners must be employed and must be 19 years or over.

Published at a Labour Party Conference reception, which was delivered alongside Microsoft, From Anchor Institutions to Anchor Ecosystems explores how England can create more inclusive growth in an AI-enabled economy by strengthening the relationship between employers, education providers, civic institutions, technology partners, and local communities.

16 September 2026 Can AI really be slowed down? The challenge is not the technology itself, but getting competing nations to agree. Calls to slow the pace of AI development are no longer coming solely from academics, campaigners, or commentators. Increasingly, they’re coming from the people building the technology itself.

Enterprise AI is entering a new phase. For the past few years, organisations have focused on adoption. Teams have tried copilots, tested coding assistants, explored generative AI, and begun investing in agentic workflows. Adoption has been the primary measure of success. Now a different challenge is emerging. As AI becomes embedded in everyday work, organisations are discovering that success is no longer defined by how much AI they use, but by how effectively they use it.

Healthcare organisations are under increasing pressure to embrace AI. From reducing administrative burden and supporting clinical decision-making to improving operational efficiency, AI is increasingly being viewed as a key enabler of transformation across the NHS and wider healthcare sector. Yet amid the excitement surrounding emerging technologies, many organisations risk overlooking a critical truth: successful AI adoption is not primarily a technology challenge.

89% of CHROsidentify time away from everyday responsibilities as the biggest barrier to learning and development participation. Workforce developmentremains high on the agenda, but learning is competing with packed calendars, increasing workloads, and the pressure to deliver. As a result, many organisations whocan’tspare their employees for longer than a few hours a day,are looking for new ways to build capability.

AI 28 August 2026 Anthropic has announced a research preview of its Model Hardware Standard (MHS), a new specification designed to help AI agents interact with physical devices. If Model Context Protocol (MCP) gave AI a common way to discover and use software tools, MHS does something similar for hardware. It's early days, and access is currently limited while Anthropic works with partners on safety evaluations and best practices. But it opens up some fascinating possibilities. What is MHS?

Every organisation is collecting more data than ever – but without the right strategy and skills, that data remains an untapped asset. In this exclusive on-demand session, Leading with intelligence: Transforming talent in the age of AI-powered decision-making, our experts explore how organisations are shifting to AI-powered, data-driven strategies – and how upskilling your workforce is the key to unlocking the full potential of your data.

Under the updated approach, organisations bidding for government contracts will be assessed more heavily on how they contribute to local economic growth, tackle skills shortages and create opportunities for people entering the workforce. Social value weighting will increase from 10% to 20% for contracts worth £5 million or more, while contracts between £1 million and £5 million will carry a minimum 10% weighting.

QA Ltd and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) recently came together to celebrate the success of their Data Analyst Level 4 apprenticeship programme. This programme was designed to develop highly skilled analytics engineers capable of transforming complex data into meaningful insights that improve public services. Following close collaboration to map apprenticeship standards with the MoJ's needs, the programme officially launched in 2024.