UK Standard Skills Classification
The UK Standard Skills Classification (SSC) is a new national framework, to help the UK think about and discuss skills in It was created on behalf of Skills England and officially launched at a special event on 30 April and publically announced by the government on 11 May 2026.
The UK Skills Explorer Digital tool is new comprehensive way of identifying and describing skills needs to help employers, training providers, job seekers, and people looking to upskill to get the best from the system. The innovative new tool will make it much easier to match people to job opportunities and target skills investment where it matters most. It offers the most detailed, data driven picture yet of the UK labour market, and marks a significant step forward in how we think about and discuss skills in the UK.
A report, UK Standard Skills Classification development report, also published by Skills England, explains how the SCC has been developed, its uses, and proposals for how it could be maintained.
The tool was created by the University of Warwick’s Institute for Employment Research (IER) and the University of Sheffield, in partnership with Omnifolio on behalf of Skills England, the SSC is a standardised set of categories that identify the skills, knowledge and tasks required across UK occupations. It provides linkage between skills, occupations and knowledge, the SSC allows users, including employers, training providers and job seekers, to confidently identify needs and plan provision using a simple, common language.
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