A new note provides a summary of the findings of the Green Skills Review into improving training and support for green jobs in Wales, one of four short turnaround reviews undertaken across Welsh Government during the first half of 2025.
Welsh Government writes:
This note provides a summary of the findings of the Green Skills Review, one of four short turnaround reviews undertaken across Welsh Government during the first half of 2025 (alongside Artificial Intelligence, Floating Offshore Wind and SME Productivity).The intention is for all four reviews to provide a final report to Ministers with recommendations reflecting the findings of a series of meetings with key sector stakeholders. The four reports will be considered in parallel to inform a joined-up approach for delivery in the coming months.
Some clear themes emerged during discussions within which a series of recommendations have been grouped below. These themes were:
- Communication of Green Skills across Wales
- Better understanding the Green Skills needs of Welsh Industries
- Supporting more agile and responsive Green Skills qualifications
- Improving how we work across the Welsh Skills System
- Building a stronger Green Skills Ecosystem
Themes and recommendations
The aim of the review was to explore the current Welsh Green Skills System and consider opportunities to provide specific and actionable recommendations to inform short to medium-term delivery.
Communication of green skills across Wales
Defining uniform terminology we can use to describe green skills and qualifications is of key importance. In particular, the importance of engaging with employers to articulate green skills and green career paths in a way that will resonate with industry, education stakeholders and the general public. We also need to consider how to provide students with broad opportunities to experience work and encourage more people into pursuing green careers. This includes continuing to support the embedding of sustainability and STEM into schools, strengthening careers advice and articulating a clear industry-led narrative for green career progression. We need to continue to evolve our approach to stakeholder engagement, ensuring we utilise a range of mediums and interactions which give consideration to the needs and challenges faced by all sizes of businesses, and take an agile approach to reflect the fast-moving skills landscape. It is also important to recognise a ‘built environment sector’ and the need for more certainty on long term direction in that area – to in turn attract private investments and the financial markets to support our ambitions.
- Recommendation 1: Undertake a proactive Green Skills campaign this autumn – to include a comms and marketing campaign and increase our work with the Regional Skills Partnerships to support targeted green skills employer engagement.
- Recommendation 2: Work with industry to identify, develop and publish ‘Journey to Competence’ pathways for all major Green Skills professions and recognise a ‘built environment sector’ in Wales by the end of the year.
- Recommendation 3: Work with Education and Skills colleagues to explore opportunities for strengthening our Green Skills narrative and career advice in schools and support a Welsh Green Skills talent pipeline.
Better understanding the green skills needs of Welsh industries
A great deal of valuable skills mapping activity has already been undertaken this Senedd term by both the Welsh Government and our partners and stakeholders. However, continuing to improve and refine our approaches to skills mapping is critical to ensuring we have a Green Skills system both driven by and responsive to current and future need. Discussions have already started with Medr on supporting better sharing and pooling of data on skills mapping and we will continue to explore the feasibility of using shared digital tools to identify opportunities, needs and gaps across sectors and across regions. The ultimate ambition is to have as close to ‘live’ Green Skills market intelligence and data as is feasible, to support better policy development and decision making. Alongside this, it is critically important that the approach to Green Skills continues to have robust links with the future skills needs being identified to support activities and interventions across Welsh Government. For example, ensuring a clear link between our Green Skills planning with cross-government priorities like supporting the built environment sector and retrofit, AI and digital skills and Floating Offshore Wind.
- Recommendation 4: Work collaboratively with Medr, the Regional Skills Partnerships and across Welsh Government to explore digital tools/solutions for collating and streamlining skills mapping activities.
- Recommendation 5: Undertake an immediate skills audit across the Welsh Government Priorities and the wider Programme for Government to identify dependencies on Green Skills provision. Explore how a similar skills audit can be embedded into the formulation of future Programme for Governments.
Supporting more agile and responsive green skills qualifications
The review recognised that we already have a strong Tertiary Education and Skills foundation in Wales on which to build our future Green Skills approach. The challenge is to make positive, incremental improvements ensure the skills system remains as responsive and effective as possible. This includes taking an Industry-led approach to ensuring qualifications and skills frameworks have a clear fit to future employability.
Of particular importance, therefore, is ensuring a focus on good quality, general qualifications and apprenticeship frameworks which produce well-skilled professionals as a priority. There was unanimous agreement amongst stakeholders at the review meetings that primary importance should be attached to foundational and underpinning skills for all learners – sector and industry-specific skills could then be added on by employers by way of Green Skills bolt-ons and micro qualifications. Ensuring learners have as broad and general a grounding as possible will also allow us to be more flexible in adapting our qualifications to emerging Green Skills needs and ensure we can move our workforce more easily to support future Green projects and investments.
The review recognised the success of Personal Learning Accounts (PLAs) and in particular Green PLAs but highlighted the need for them to continue to evolve and remain relevant. Medr are reviewing and refining Net Zero Skills provision across apprenticeship frameworks and part time learning provision and we will work closely with them to complete this work and ensure it is communicated effectively and coherently to stakeholders. The balance of provision across the Welsh Green Skills system is also of importance, ensuring we maximise the relative effectiveness of apprenticeship frameworks, part-time learning and industry-targeted upskilling support like the Flexible Skills Programme.
- Recommendation 6: Work with Industry and Medr to continue to review and refine Green Skills qualifications, ensuring they are fit for purpose and as agile as possible to reflect emerging Green Skills needs. This will be underpinned by reviewing National Occupational Standards and identifying shared and commons skills across all key green sectors.
- Recommendation 7: Consider how we communicate and relaunch Green Skills part-time provision to maintain momentum on the success of Green PLAs and frame them within wider green learning support to ensure their continuing relevancy in a fast-moving skills picture.
Improving how we work across the Welsh skills system
As already referenced in this report, the success of the Welsh Skills System relies upon the effective operation and integration of its different elements. It is particularly important we identify and reduce any fragmentation between government, training providers, academia and industry. Collaboration was a recurring theme of Review discussions and it will be a vital element of our approach to future Green Skills provision and planning. The relationship between Welsh Government and Medr is also of key importance to ensure activity is aligned to provide best value and that industry, providers and learners get a consistency of message on Green Skills. Within Welsh Government, particular focus will be given to ensuring a seamless join-up between Economic policy, Innovation, Skills and other areas which interact with the Welsh Skills system. This will strengthen our Green Skills narrative across government, underpin better future support for industries and help grow integrated Green Skills supply chains.
- Recommendation 8: Work with Industry, Medr and partners to continue to increase awareness of regional variations in skills needs and consider valuable opportunities for collaboration – including exploring the potential for regional skill hubs/collective funding models which operate cross sector and are industry led.
Building a stronger green skills ecosystem
The review highlighted how strong and positive stakeholder interest and commitment to Green Skills in Wales is and re-confirmed a substantial appetite amongst employers, training providers and academia partners to be engaged by government on green skills opportunities. We also need to ensure we are using the wider Welsh legislative context and structures to our advantage when considering the future approach to Green Skills. Stakeholders identified that Wales benefits from having valuable frameworks such as the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015 and Social Partnership and Public Procurement Act 2023 which could be used to shape our plans and include a strong social value thread in our green skills approach.
- Recommendation 9: Set up a regular Green Skills Stakeholder Engagement Group to test our planned direction and interventions and promote an industry-led approach to Green Skills provision in Wales.
- Recommendation 10: Work across Government to explore opportunities to strengthen our Skills related procurement contracts to maximise social value, learning from international best practise where relevant.
The Welsh Government will now consider the findings and recommendations of this review carefully and consider what action is required in the short to medium term so that we are in the best possible position to ensure we can take advantage of opportunities to build a greener and stronger Welsh Economy.
