United Kingdom — AI Gap Index

29%

8/28

AI Gap Index

1/10

Schools

2/8

Workforce

2/6

Governance

3/4

Access

Schools 1/10

D1 AI literacy curriculum exists in schools 1 DfE AI guidance for schools is voluntary, not binding. Schools White Paper (Feb 2026) commits to embedding digital and media literacy across the refreshed national curriculum (first teaching from 2028); not yet legislation. ^{[1], [2], [5]}

D2 Curriculum is binding law or mandate 0 Guidance only; no binding curriculum mandate, no standards, no assessment ^{[1], [5]}

D3 Ethics component included in curriculum 0

D4 Teacher training mandated and funded before rollout 0

D5 Dedicated funding attached to the requirement 0

Workforce 2/8

D6 Employers legally required to train all employees 1 UK government commitment to train 10 million workers by 2030 via AI Skills Boost; Jan 2026 expansion launched AI foundations benchmark through Skills England with 11 corporate partners; not a legal employer requirement — voluntary worker training ^{[1], [3], [5]}

D7 Training must cover ethics and critical evaluation 1 AI and Automation Practitioner apprenticeships focus on practical tool use; ethics not emphasised as core component ^{[1], [3], [5]}

D8 Pre-redundancy training obligation exists 0

D9 Workers have rights when AI used in employment decisions 0

Civil Service & Governance 2/6

D10 Civil servants working with AI must receive training 1 AI Safety Institute (AISI) established; primarily a research and evaluation body, limited enforcement powers — advisory rather than regulatory ^{[1], [5]}

D11 Minimum training standard is defined 1 Civil Service 'One Big Thing' training rolled out (Oct 2025–Feb 2026); 54% of civil servants reported receiving no training; implementation gaps documented ^{[1], [4], [5]}

D12 Enforcement mechanism exists with named authority 0

Public Access 3/4

D13 Free or publicly funded AI literacy resources available 1 Free AI training available to all UK adults via AI Skills Hub; 1M+ course completions since June 2025 launch; virtual AI foundations badge on completion ^{[1], [5]}

D14 Digital infrastructure support for schools and institutions 2 Schools White Paper 'Every Child Achieving and Thriving' (23 Feb 2026) commits £23M to a four-year EdTech evidence programme, launches AI Safety and Pedagogy Taskforce, names Google DeepMind and OpenAI as partners, and commits to digitising the national curriculum by 2028. The earlier £23M EdTech testbed expansion and the White Paper together establish funded, sustained infrastructure support. ^{[1], [5]}

Subregion map

Coloured regions are scored. Grey = no data yet. Click a region to open its profile.

Sources

Regions & states

Subregions inherit supranational obligations from their parent country but may have additional local policy. Scores reflect local policy only.

Region

Schools /10

Workforce /8

Governance /6

Access /4

Total

Index history

May 30, 2026 8/28 May 2026 refresh: Schools White Paper (23 Feb 2026) commits £23M four-year EdTech programme, AI Safety & Pedagogy Taskforce, curriculum digitisation, and AI tutoring tools by 2027 for 450K disadvantaged pupils; dim14 upgraded 1→2 on basis of sustained, funded infrastructure commitment.

April 23, 2026 7/28 DfE free AI training modules (4 modules, Chartered College of Teaching certification toward Chartered Teacher Status) released for all schools/colleges; voluntary — no statutory requirement; 49% of schools have no AI policy (NEU survey); no score change warranted

April 22, 2026 7/28 No score changes; Level 4 AI & Automation Practitioner apprenticeship (March 2026) added to research_refs — employer-funded pathway distinct from free AI Skills Boost

April 21, 2026 7/28 AI Skills Boost expanded Jan 2026 with Skills England benchmark and 11 corporate partners; 1M+ completions; voluntary — no statutory duty; scores unchanged (programme remains non-binding)

March 23, 2026 7/28 Workforce and governance updates: dim6=1 (10M workers training goal by 2030, voluntary), dim7=1 (AI apprenticeships launched, practical focus), dim11=1 (civil service training programme shows implementation gaps but evidence of effort)

March 17, 2026 4/28 Governance rescore: dim10=1 (AISI is advisory/research, not a full regulator)

March 17, 2026 3/28 Initial scoring from research archive