| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2025 |
| Type | Executive agency |
| Jurisdiction | England |
| Agency executives | |
| Parent department | Department for Education |
| Website | https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/skills-england |
Skills England is anexecutive agency of theDepartment for Education formally established on 2 June 2025.[3] The agency has assumed the functions transferred to the Secretary of State from theInstitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.[4]
The main purpose of the agency is to increase flexibility within the skills training area, to properly cater for skills shortages within regional economies. It would also use the apprenticeships levy more effectively. The stated ambitions are to build world class skills, enabling growth and opportunity, understand the nation’s skills needs and improve the skills offer, simplify access to skills to boost economic growth and to mobilise employers and other partners, co-creating solutions to meet national, regional and local skills needs.[5]
The main reason cited for the creation of Skills England is that between 2017 and 2022 skills shortages in the UK doubled to more than half a million, and accounted for 36% of job vacancies.[6]
Skills England was first proposed in the2024 Labour Party manifesto. On 22 July 2024, Prime MinisterKeir Starmer announced the creation of the body at theFarnborough Airshow. The body would be rolled out over the next nine months.[7][6]
