Press materials for “The Free Training Blind Spot”, a JobYay study of who qualifies for fully-funded training in England and who actually takes it. The full study, regional tables and open data are at jobyay.co.uk/free-training-blind-spot/. Figures for any local authority, extra cuts, quotes and workings are available on request: [email protected].
The release
Seven million workers qualify for free training. Most have never been told.
Around 7.2 million workers in England are likely to qualify for a fully-funded course, yet only about 1.17 million adults took government-funded training last year, and the number is falling. That is the finding of a new study by the course directory JobYay, based on official earnings and participation data, published as hundreds of thousands of teenagers prepare to collect exam results.
About 1 in 3 employees in England (35%) earns under £26,800, the main earnings cut-off for fully-funded training from August 2026. That is roughly 7.2 million workers, before counting unemployed adults, who usually qualify too. Against that, 1,174,940 adults took a funded education and training course in 2024/25. For every adult who trained, around six employees were likely to qualify.
The gap is widening. In 2024/25, the first year of the new Adult Skills Fund, adult participation fell 4.8% and dropped in eight of England’s nine regions. The South East fell furthest (down 8.7%). Only the West Midlands trained more adults than the year before (up 3.3%).
Where you live changes your odds. In the North East, 2 in 5 employees earn under the national cut-off. In London it is fewer than 1 in 4, and even under London’s own higher threshold of £28,860, fewer than 1 in 3, still the lowest share in England. In Nottingham, half the city’s workers are likely to qualify, the highest share in England. The Isle of Wight (50%), Hull (48%) and Sandwell (47%) follow. In Kensington and Chelsea it is 14% on the national test, about 19% under London’s own rule.
Take-up tells a different story. The North East has England’s highest eligibility and its highest participation. The blind spot’s centre is the South. The South West, East of England and South East have the country’s lowest take-up of funded training, and in the South West around nine workers were likely eligible for every one adult who trained. In London the figure is between three and four.
The government raised the earnings threshold from £25,750 to £26,800 for 2026/27, a rise of 4.1%. Median pay rose 4.3% over the same period. The share of workers who qualify is essentially unchanged.
John Callaghan, founder of JobYay, said: “The money is there and the courses are there. The problem is awareness. Millions of people qualify for free training and most of them don’t know it. We built a two-minute checker so they can find out for themselves.”
Anyone can check what they are likely to qualify for in about two minutes at jobyay.co.uk/government-funded-courses/.
Results week angles
- The adults’ results day. While teenagers open envelopes, millions of the adults watching qualify for a fully-funded course themselves. A third of England’s workers do, and most have never been told. This study is deliberately not school-leaver advice: the funding here is for adults aged nineteen and over.
- GCSE results day. Adults 19 and over without a grade 4 in English or maths are fully funded to resit, with no earnings test. JobYay lists around 4,000 free English and maths courses across England.
- The threshold rise that changed nothing. A 4.1% rise, swallowed by 4.3% wage growth.
- The postcode lottery. National cut-off £26,800; London fully funds below £28,860; Buckinghamshire funds a first full Level 3 below £31,427; Lancashire runs a two-tier rule. Same wage, different postcode, different entitlement.
Notes to editors
- The study: “The Free Training Blind Spot”, JobYay, August 2026. All figures, tables and the underlying datasets are on the study page and free to reuse with credit to “JobYay analysis of ONS ASHE 2025 and DfE participation data”.
- Eligibility method. The 2026/27 national earnings threshold (£26,800, courses starting from 1 August 2026) applied to ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025, resident analysis, England. Shares estimated by interpolation on ASHE’s published percentile distribution. Employees only, so the 7.2 million is a floor; unemployed and many self-employed adults also qualify.
- Participation. DfE Further Education and Skills statistics, adult (19+) education and training participation, 2024/25, the latest full year, on the revised definition applied consistently across years. Excludes apprenticeships and tailored learning. Regional rates are DfE-published per 100,000 residents aged 19 to 64.
- “Likely eligible” is an estimate based on earnings, the main eligibility gate. Providers confirm individual eligibility and some offers have extra conditions. Every area is measured against the national £26,800 test so regions compare on the same ruler; devolved authorities can set higher thresholds, and where that changes the picture materially (London, £28,860) the own-rule figure is given alongside. Adult skills policy has been owned by the Department for Work and Pensions since September 2025.
- About JobYay. JobYay (jobyay.co.uk) is a course directory listing almost 33,000 free courses across England, sourced from the National Careers Service feed and directly from providers, plus a two-minute eligibility checker. Founded by John Callaghan.
- Contact: John Callaghan, founder, [email protected]. Figures for any local area, extra cuts of the data, quotes and workings available on request.
Download the data
Eligibility by area (CSV) and regional participation and take-up (CSV). Free to reuse with the credit line above.