The accelerating integration of AI into our working lives gives the education sector the impetus to adapt. We are tasked with preparing learners for the evolving demands of the workplace and ensuring the benefits of technological advancement are shared by all.
FE excels at building technical skills and AI is the latest powerful tool demanding competence. The Skills Builder Partnership’s latest research, the Essential Skills Tracker 2025, offers compelling evidence that essential skills – those highly transferable skills like creativity, problem solving, and teamwork – aren’t just drivers of income and social mobility now, but are fundamental enablers for individuals and the economy to successfully acquire and apply AI.
The findings are stark: those with higher levels of essential skills have been the first to embrace AI. A nationally representative YouGov sample of 2,114 UK adults’ essential skills (measured using the Universal Framework) shows that higher levels of essential skills are associated with a 30 per cent relative increase in AI usage at work.
Creativity in particular stands out, with frequent AI users demonstrating skill levels 21 per cent higher than their peers. This isn’t just about technical know-how. It’s about the capacity to innovate and adopt new technical tools.
This proficiency translates into economic benefits. The established wage premium for essential skills persists: those with higher levels earn between £3,700 and £6,100 more annually. Layered on top of this, the research reveals an AI wage premium. Individuals who regularly use AI earn, on average, an additional £8,300 per year compared to peers.
Here we see an emerging challenge for the FE sector with the growth of an AI advantage gap. If those already equipped with strong essential skills are the primary beneficiaries of AI adoption and the associated wage premiums, we risk deepening existing inequalities.
We know that individuals from less advantaged backgrounds often have fewer opportunities to build essential skills. Without concerted effort, AI could make the skills gap more entrenched and harder to escape.
The transition to an AI-integrated workplace has a clear human impact. Our research indicates that being required to use AI daily correlates with a 43 per cent increase in anxiety levels.
Yet, here too, essential skills offer a powerful counterbalance. Higher proficiency in adapting, speaking and teamwork skills is linked to reduced anxiety, fostering the resilience and confidence to embrace technological change.
Encouragingly, workers themselves recognise this: 87 per cent agree that essential skills will help them adapt to new technology, and 80 per cent of those considering a job move are influenced by opportunities to build these skills (ranking just behind pay and flexible working).
What does this mean for the FE sector? While systemic change is needed, institutions and educators can act now. We can start by using the common language of the open-source Universal Framework, which breaks essential skills down into sequential steps to make essential skills explicit in learning, workshops, and employer interactions.
Educators can access free tools and resources to explicitly teach specific skill steps and integrate practice across subjects, making learning more tangible and impactful.
Alongside these steps, we need policy action. Based on this and past research, the Department for Education should adopt a consistent and rigorous approach to building and measuring essential skills. The Universal Framework provides the leading model for this.
Investment in CPD and initial training reform is vital. Furthermore, essential skills must be explicitly integrated and assessed within technical qualifications alongside T Levels and apprenticeships, using the framework for coherence.
Finally, accountability must evolve, embedding essential skills within the Ofsted framework and ensuring Skills England prioritises this agenda.
The narrative that AI will replace jobs is pervasive: 72 per cent of workers believe it will impact others, although only 19 per cent see it affecting their own role. This disconnect highlights a need for honest conversations and proactive preparation, which the FE sector is uniquely positioned to facilitate.
The AI revolution is not a distant prospect; it’s unfolding now. For FE, this is a moment to lead.
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