UK Construction and Law
Another 861,000 pounds goes to offshore wind training, and two of the three awards are aimed at people already working in other sectors
By Staff Writer | 29 August 2026
Three projects share 861,000 pounds from the Scottish Government's 3.85 million pound Offshore Wind Skills Programme, taking the total awarded to 2,540,000 pounds. The routes funded are a technician training centre, paid internships for final year engineering students, and placements for people transferring from oil and gas, subsea, maritime and defence.
The programme was set up this year with 3.85 million pounds behind it. A first round was announced in June. The second, announced on 28 August, puts 861,000 pounds into three projects and brings the running total to 2,540,000 pounds. That leaves rather over a third of the fund uncommitted.
The three shares are 280,000 pounds to Ayrshire College, 466,000 pounds to the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, which is part of the University of Strathclyde, and 115,000 pounds to STEM Returners.
What each award buys
The college money supports a training programme through its new Scottish Wind Technician Education Centre, which launched alongside the announcement and was set up with a Norwegian training provider. The funded cohort is 100 learners, half of them full-time students and half drawn from just transition and supply chain backgrounds. A further 150 are to be supported through employer and complementary funding, which the announcement puts at up to 250 learners in total. Only the first 100 rest on this award.
The institute's share funds an Offshore Wind Skills Accelerator pilot giving 25 final year engineering students paid internships, placements and work-based learning, with Real Living Wage support for every participating student. It also pays for a Pre-Approved Talent System, a shared talent matching platform expected to hold a pool of at least 75 verified candidates. The stated targets around it are at least 15 employers engaged, more than 50 candidate interviews and at least 25 internship, placement, apprenticeship or employment offers.
The third and smallest award funds a returners and skills transition programme run with Global Underwater Hub, aimed at people coming back after a career break and at those moving across from oil and gas, subsea, maritime and defence. It provides up to 20 employer-embedded placements linked to live vacancies, with support through recruitment, assessment, onboarding and in-placement mentoring.
These projects highlight how the Scottish Government is responding to the skills needs identified by industry, working with employers and training providers to create clear pathways into offshore wind while helping people across Scotland put their knowledge and expertise to work in the sector.
Stephen Gethins, Energy Minister
The shape of the spend
Two of the three awards are about moving people who already have relevant experience rather than training them from nothing. That is a reading of where the constraint sits. Offshore wind construction and operation draws on the same trades and disciplines as oil and gas, subsea and maritime work, and the barrier for an experienced hand is usually recognition and a route in rather than the underlying skill. The placement numbers here are small against the size of the sector, so these are pilots that will either be repeated at scale or quietly dropped.
For contractors and supply chain firms the practical point is the talent matching platform. A shared pool of verified candidates, with at least 15 employers signed up, is the kind of thing that either becomes the default route into the sector or fails for want of employer participation. The stated interview and offer targets are the numbers to hold it against when the pilot reports.