FOI release

FOI2026/00710: BridgeAI delivery figures and AI Skills Hub reporting under UKRI-3797

This request was refused in part, so we didn't provide some of the information the requester asked for. This may include information where we can neither confirm nor deny that we hold it.

Case reference FOI2026/00710

Received 12 August 2026

Published 24 September 2026

Request

Request received: 12 August 2026

On BridgeAI, as reported in "Bridging the AI divide: Year three in review" (March 2026): 
 
1. For the reported figure of 1,700+ AI skills courses completed: the definition of "completed" used, whether the unit counted is a module or a full course, and, if held, how many individual people the figure represents. 
 
2. How the £74.6 million reported as allocated by the end of 2025 breaks down, by part of the programme or by delivery partner, in whatever form you hold it. 
 
3. Any evaluation of BridgeAI, whether internal or commissioned, or the timetable for one if it is planned but not yet complete. 
 
On the AI Skills Hub, which PwC runs under contract UKRI-3797 (specification disclosed under FOI2026/00071): 
 
4. The Hub's performance figures: how many people have used it, and how many individuals and organisations have taken training as a result of it, for each quarter since it launched. PwC is required to report these figures quarterly under the contract (Annex A of the specification), in anonymised form. I am asking for the numbers themselves, not for copies of PwC's quarterly reports, which were withheld under FOI2026/00204. 
 
5. The second white paper on skills and training gaps. The first was disclosed under FOI2026/00458 and states at page 79 that a second was due within six months. Please also provide any KPI breakdown covering periods after the one disclosed with it. 
 
6. Whether the Hub's contract was extended when its initial period ended in March 2026 (the contract provided for a 12-month extension decided at that point), and the service's current contractual status. 
 
If answering everything would exceed the cost limit, items 4 and 5 matter most, and I would rather have those than a refusal of the whole request. 

Response

Response sent: 24 September 2026

Full details of this request are available in the attached documents.

Documents

• FOI2026_00710 Annex 1.pdf (8.4 MB)
• FOI_Response_Letter - FOI2026_00710_Redacted.pdf (293.6 KB)

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