On this page
- What the training covers
- Start with the work, not the tool
- Getting the level right
- Ways to buy
- What good AI training includes
- Rules and guidance to know
- Accreditations explained
- How to evaluate a provider
- Apprenticeships and funding
- What drives the cost
- Red flags
- Questions to ask providers
- FAQs
- Sources and further reading
It is common for organisations to pay for software that their people use only a fraction of. Spreadsheets get rebuilt by hand each month, reports are copied between systems, and AI tools are switched on with little more than a launch email. Digital skills training is meant to close that gap. When it is well targeted, the time saved can be measured. When it is not, it becomes a day out of the office that nobody refers back to.
AI has made the decision harder. In January 2026 the government expanded its programme with industry to give 10 million workers key AI skills by 2030, and many employers are now working out what their own people need. This guide is for HR, Learning and Development (L&D), IT and procurement teams choosing a provider for Excel, Power BI, Microsoft 365, Copilot or wider AI skills.
What the training covers
Digital and AI training providers usually cover some or all of the areas below. Few are equally strong in all of them, so it is worth knowing which area matters most to you before you start.
The main areas of digital and AI training
| Area | Typical subjects | Usually for |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday productivity | Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, Outlook and Word | All staff, PAs, executive assistants and administrative teams |
| Spreadsheets and data | Excel at every level, Power BI and dashboards, SQL, Python for data, data literacy | Finance teams, analysts, operations and anyone who reports on numbers |
| Automation and apps | Power Automate and Power Apps | Process owners, analysts and IT teams |
| Generative AI tools | Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT and similar tools, writing effective prompts | Everyday users, with separate depth for power users |
| AI literacy and responsible use | How AI works, its limits and risks, data protection, policy and governance | All staff, with a deeper version for managers and senior leaders |
Area
Everyday productivity
Typical subjects
Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, Outlook and Word
Usually for
All staff, PAs, executive assistants and administrative teams
Area
Spreadsheets and data
Typical subjects
Excel at every level, Power BI and dashboards, SQL, Python for data, data literacy
Usually for
Finance teams, analysts, operations and anyone who reports on numbers
Area
Automation and apps
Typical subjects
Power Automate and Power Apps
Usually for
Process owners, analysts and IT teams
Area
Generative AI tools
Typical subjects
Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT and similar tools, writing effective prompts
Usually for
Everyday users, with separate depth for power users
Area
AI literacy and responsible use
Typical subjects
How AI works, its limits and risks, data protection, policy and governance
Usually for
All staff, with a deeper version for managers and senior leaders
Start with the work, not the tool
The most useful brief describes what people need to do and leaves the choice of course for later. "Our finance team spends two days a month consolidating budgets by hand" gives a provider far more to work with than "intermediate Excel for twelve people". It also tells you what to measure afterwards.
It helps to talk to the people doing the work and to their managers. Ask which tasks are slow, repetitive or error-prone, which tools they already have licences for, and where they currently go for help. The answers often point to a smaller, more targeted piece of training than the one you first had in mind.
Getting the level right
In our view, a mixed-ability group is one of the quickest ways for digital training to disappoint. Beginners get lost, and experienced users sit through material they already know. Many providers offer a short skills check before booking so people can be placed at beginner, intermediate or advanced level. It costs little and tends to improve results for everyone in the room.
Software versions matter too. Features available in the current Microsoft 365 apps may not exist in older versions of Excel or Office, and the screens look different. Tell providers which versions your organisation uses, and check that the trainer will teach on the same.
Ways to buy
The same skills can be bought in very different ways. Which one suits you depends on how many people need training, how similar their needs are and how closely you want the content to reflect your own work.
Common ways to buy digital and AI training
| Option | Best suited to | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Places on public courses | A few people at a time, standard skills, quick to book | Whether dates are guaranteed to run, class sizes and how mixed the group's levels will be |
| A private in-house course | A whole team learning together, on your dates | Whether content can be adjusted to your team and how many people can attend per session |
| Training built around your own data | Teams who need to apply skills to their real reports, files and processes | How your data will be shared, stored and deleted, and who sees it |
| One-to-one coaching or clinics | Senior people, specialists or anyone stuck on a specific problem | Whether sessions can be booked flexibly and how follow-up questions are handled |
| Rollout and adoption support | Introducing a tool such as Copilot or Microsoft 365 across the organisation | Their approach to change, champions networks and measuring adoption, as well as training days |
| Certification exam preparation | People who need a recognised Microsoft or industry certification | Who sets and runs the exam, and whether the exam fee is included |
| Apprenticeships and apprenticeship units | Longer development funded through the Growth and Skills Levy | That they are an approved provider and how they meet the funding rules |
Option
Places on public courses
Best suited to
A few people at a time, standard skills, quick to book
What to check
Whether dates are guaranteed to run, class sizes and how mixed the group's levels will be
Option
A private in-house course
Best suited to
A whole team learning together, on your dates
What to check
Whether content can be adjusted to your team and how many people can attend per session
Option
Training built around your own data
Best suited to
Teams who need to apply skills to their real reports, files and processes
What to check
How your data will be shared, stored and deleted, and who sees it
Option
One-to-one coaching or clinics
Best suited to
Senior people, specialists or anyone stuck on a specific problem
What to check
Whether sessions can be booked flexibly and how follow-up questions are handled
Option
Rollout and adoption support
Best suited to
Introducing a tool such as Copilot or Microsoft 365 across the organisation
What to check
Their approach to change, champions networks and measuring adoption, as well as training days
Option
Certification exam preparation
Best suited to
People who need a recognised Microsoft or industry certification
What to check
Who sets and runs the exam, and whether the exam fee is included
Option
Apprenticeships and apprenticeship units
Best suited to
Longer development funded through the Growth and Skills Levy
What to check
That they are an approved provider and how they meet the funding rules
Training built around your own files is often the most relevant option, but it means sharing information with an outside organisation. Agree in writing what will be shared, how it will be protected and when it will be deleted. If the information includes personal data, involve your data protection officer.
What good AI training includes
AI training is newer than spreadsheet training and, in our view, more variable in quality. Some courses are little more than a tour of features and a list of prompts. Stronger courses help people judge when to use AI, when not to, and how to check what it produces.
We think a well-designed AI course for general staff should cover:
- What generative AI is and why it can produce confident but wrong answers
- How to check outputs before relying on them or sending them to anyone else
- What information must never be entered into an AI tool, and which tools are approved
- How your own AI policy applies to day-to-day work
- Practical use on real tasks from people's own roles
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) highlights confidential information entered into prompts and automation bias, the tendency to trust an automated output too readily, among the data protection risks an AI policy should address. Training is one of the main ways that policy reaches the people using the tools.
Copilot rollouts raise a further issue. Microsoft states that Microsoft 365 Copilot only accesses data that each user already has permission to see. If files in SharePoint, OneDrive or Teams are shared more widely than they should be, Copilot can bring that content into people's answers. Microsoft's own deployment guidance covers finding and fixing oversharing before rollout. A provider offering Copilot adoption support should be comfortable discussing this with your IT team, even if the fix sits with IT and not with the trainer.
Rules and guidance to know
- UK data protection law. UK GDPR (the UK General Data Protection Regulation) applies whenever personal data is processed, including when staff paste it into an AI tool. The ICO publishes guidance on AI and data protection.
- The EU AI Act. Article 4 requires providers and deployers of AI systems to take measures to support the AI literacy of their staff. It has applied since 2 February 2025, national supervision began on 2 August 2026, and the wording was amended in July 2026 by the EU's Digital Omnibus package. According to the European Commission, the Act can apply to organisations outside the EU where an AI system is used in the EU or affects people there. The Commission also says no certificate is needed, and an internal record of training can be kept instead.
- Free government-backed courses. Free short courses benchmarked against Skills England's AI foundation skills for work benchmark are available to every adult in the UK. They can be a useful baseline, and may shape what you need a paid provider to add.
Whether the EU AI Act applies to your organisation depends on how and where you use AI. Take legal advice instead of relying on a training provider's view.
Accreditations explained
Digital training providers list a lot of badges. These are the ones you are most likely to see, and what each one tells you.
- Microsoft training partner means the provider is recognised by Microsoft to deliver training on its products. It describes their relationship with Microsoft. It does not vouch for the quality of an individual trainer.
- Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) is a certification held by an individual trainer. Ask whether the person delivering your course holds it.
- BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, accredits some IT training and runs its own certifications.
- CPD accreditation means a course has been reviewed by a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accrediting body. It is not the same as a regulated qualification.
- Learning and Performance Institute (LPI) accreditation assesses a provider's learning practice as an organisation.
- Cyber Essentials is a government-backed scheme showing an organisation has basic cyber security controls in place. It matters most if the provider will handle your data or access your systems.
- Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register (APAR) listing is needed to deliver government-funded apprenticeships, and Ofsted inspects the quality of that provision.
How to evaluate a provider
Course outlines in this market look very similar. These checks are more useful for telling providers apart.
Signs of a strong provider
Practical details matter more than they first appear. Small class sizes give people time to ask questions. Course files or recordings help people revisit what they learned. Public course dates that are guaranteed to run save you rebooking. Free support after the course, even for a few weeks, often makes the difference between a skill being used and forgotten.
Apprenticeships and funding
Employers with an annual pay bill over £3 million pay the apprenticeship levy, now part of the Growth and Skills Levy. Levy funds can be used for digital and data apprenticeships, which are long programmes combining work and study.
Since April 2026, the levy can also fund apprenticeship units. These are short courses of between 30 and 140 hours, delivered over one to 16 weeks. The first units included three Level 5 units in AI: AI adoption, procurement and governance; AI delivery and organisational transformation; and AI strategy and opportunity. Units are fully funded for employers who do not pay the levy, and for learners aged 19 to 24 at employers who do. Funding rules change regularly, so check the current rules on GOV.UK before planning around them.
What drives the cost
Prices vary a great deal between public courses, private sessions and longer programmes, so a figure from one provider says little about another. These are the main factors:
- The buying model, from a single public course place to a full rollout programme
- The number of people and sessions, and whether training is in person or live online
- How much the content is adapted, especially if it is built around your own data
- The level and specialism, with advanced data and AI topics usually costing more
- Skills checks, course materials and support after the course
- Certification exam fees, if they are not already included
- Travel, if trainers come to your sites
Our corporate training cost guide covers typical price structures in more detail, and our guide to measuring training ROI explains how to set measures before you buy.
Red flags
- A course recommended before anyone has asked what your people do day to day
- No way of checking levels, so everyone attends the same session
- AI training that covers features and prompts but not accuracy, limits or data protection
- Claims that a course will make your organisation compliant with the EU AI Act
- Vague answers about how your files or data will be handled
- Accreditation logos that apply to the company but not to the person teaching you
- No support once the course has finished
Questions to ask providers
Questions for your shortlist
FAQs
Do UK organisations have to train staff on AI?
No UK law requires AI training as such. UK data protection law still applies whenever staff use AI with personal data. Organisations that use AI systems in the EU, or whose AI use affects people in the EU, may also fall under Article 4 of the EU AI Act, which requires providers and deployers to take measures to support the AI literacy of their staff. Take legal advice on whether it applies to you.
What is the difference between AI literacy and AI tool training?
AI literacy is a general understanding of what AI is, how it works, what it gets wrong and how to use it responsibly. Tool training teaches people to use a specific product, such as Microsoft Copilot, for their work. Most organisations need both: literacy for everyone, and tool training for the people who will use each tool regularly.
Is there free AI training we could use instead?
Free foundation courses are available. In January 2026 the government expanded its programme with industry to give 10 million workers key AI skills by 2030, offering free short courses checked against Skills England's AI foundation skills for work benchmark. These cover the basics. A paid provider is usually worth considering when you need training built around your tools, policies and roles.
Should we choose public courses or in-house training?
Public courses suit small numbers of people who need standard skills. In-house courses tend to make more sense when a whole team needs the same skills or when you want examples that reflect your own work. Training built around your own data can be the most relevant of all, but it needs agreements on how that data is handled.
Can we use the apprenticeship levy for short digital or AI courses?
Since April 2026, employers have been able to use Growth and Skills Levy funding for apprenticeship units, short courses of 30 to 140 hours. The first units included three Level 5 units on AI adoption, delivery and strategy. Units are fully funded for employers who do not pay the levy. Ordinary short courses, such as a one-day Excel course, are not usually levy-funded, so check the funding rules for the course you have in mind.
Sources and further reading
- Free AI training for all, as government and industry programme expands to provide 10 million workers with key AI skills by 2030, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, via GOV.UK (January 2026)
- AI Skills Boost explainer, GOV.UK
- Article 4: AI literacy, AI Act Service Desk, European Commission
- AI literacy: questions and answers, European Commission
- Artificial intelligence guidance, Information Commissioner's Office
- Putting an AI policy in place: what this means for employers and employees, Information Commissioner's Office
- Microsoft 365 Copilot data protection architecture, Microsoft Learn
- Configure a secure and governed foundation for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Learn
- Apprenticeship units: toolkit for employers, GOV.UK (September 2026)
- About Cyber Essentials, National Cyber Security Centre
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Take advice on how the law applies to your organisation.