FOI2026/00458: Follow up to FOI2026/00220 - AI Skills Hub
Case reference FOI2026/00458
Received 26 May 2026
Published 2 July 2026
Request
Request Received: 26 May 2026
Thank you for your response to FOI2026/00220 sent on 23 April 2026, about the AI Skills Hub (aiskillshub.org.uk).
Your response said a formal service assessment was not required because the AI Skills Hub did not meet the criteria of a government transactional service under the Government Digital Service framework, and that proportionate governance was used.
I have 3 follow-up questions to understand more about the governance steps that led to the launch and evaluation of the AI Skills Hub.
I would be grateful for your response within 20 working days.
Question 1: Audience research Please clarify how the AI Skills Hub was designed to reach its intended audience, including:
a) the purpose of the site and what evidence was used to justify the decision to commission it
b) how the intended audience were identified and defined
c) what evidence or research was gathered about the audience's information needs, digital access, reading level, and language needs before the launch
d) how many of your user research participants included people from any of the following groups: disabled people, people with low digital confidence, people for whom English is an additional language, people from minority ethnic backgrounds, and people in lower socio-economic groups.
Question 2: Accessibility Please explain:
a) the reasoning behind treating accessibility requirements differently for the AI Skills Hub than compared to a transactional government service
b) which WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria the site was tested against, and which were not
c) whether any disabled users were involved in testing, and if so, across which impairments (visual, cognitive, motor, hearing)
d) whether the site was tested with assistive technologies (screen readers, magnifiers, voice control), and if so, which ones
Question 3: Value for money and outcomes Public money was spent on the AI Skills Hub. Please provide:
a) the success measures, outcomes, or KPIs defined before launch, including learner uptake targets across the 4 target sectors (Agriculture and Food Processing, Construction, Creative Industries, and Transport, Logistics and Warehousing)
b) performance against those measures from launch to the most recent available month (including total unique visitors, traffic sources, and any measure of meaningful engagement or onward action)
Response
Response Sent: 2 July 2026
Full details of this response are provided in the attached documents.
Documents
This is UK Research and Innovation's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.