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Last Updated on 14/07/2026 by Sarah Sarsby
The UK Government has published its new Life Sciences Jobs Plan, setting out how government, industry, education providers, and other partners will work together over the next three years to address workforce pressures across the sector.
The plan is intended to strengthen the domestic skills pipeline, improve routes into life sciences careers, help businesses access training, and support the creation of high-quality jobs across the UK. For BHTA members, the most relevant measures are those focused on medtech skills, recruitment, apprenticeships, and support for small and medium-sized businesses.
The Jobs Plan supports the Industrial Strategy commitment to publish sector-specific workforce plans for priority growth sectors. It sits alongside the Life Sciences Sector Plan, the 10 Year Health Plan for England, and wider reforms to skills, employment, and migration.
Government analysis estimates that the life sciences sector will require around 66,000 additional workers in priority occupations between 2025 and 2035. A further 52,000 workers are expected to leave those occupations over the same period, creating substantial replacement demand alongside new job growth.
The plan is structured around four pillars: improving sector coordination, skills, hiring, and good jobs. Across these areas, the government proposes closer collaboration with employers, more responsive training provision, wider entry routes, and stronger support for recruitment and workforce development.
According to the Office for Life Sciences’ Bioscience and Health Technology Sector Statistics 2023 to 2024, medical technology accounted for around 55 percent of the life sciences sector’s approximately 360,000 jobs.
The plan identifies skills pressures that closely match the needs of medtech businesses, particularly in engineering, manufacturing, regulation, quality assurance, product testing, software, data, and commercialisation. It also highlights low awareness of careers in medtech, engineering, regulation, and manufacturing, making careers outreach a stated priority.
Other proposals are not limited to medtech but could directly benefit BHTA members.
From August 2026, the UK Government will fully fund training costs for apprentices aged 16 to 24 at non-levy-paying employers. From October 2026, those employers will also be able to claim a £2,000 payment for each new apprentice in that age group. The Employer Support Fund will continue through the 2026 to 2027 financial year to help SMEs meet the essential costs of hosting T Level industry placements.
Apprenticeship brokerage pilots in selected mayoral areas will also begin from late 2026, helping SMEs find candidates and navigate the system. Eligible employers may be able to use the £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant or the Jobs Guarantee for entry-level technical and support roles. Short apprenticeship units, Skills Bootcamps, and modular study through the Lifelong Learning Entitlement are intended to support upskilling in digital, data, engineering, and management.
The Jobs Plan’s wider commitment to employer-led course design and closer links between local clusters, colleges, universities, and businesses may provide routes to shape future medtech training provision.
The Jobs Plan sets the direction for workforce policy over the next three years, but much of its impact will depend on how individual programmes are implemented. BHTA members may wish to review their future skills needs, identify roles that could be supported through apprenticeships or modular training, and consider opportunities to contribute to careers outreach, placements, and regional skills initiatives.