- £6m Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund opens for
applications
New funded training opportunities have been made available to
help oil and gas workers across Scotland retrain for roles in
other industries.
The Scottish and UK Governments are contributing £3 million each
for the 2026-27 round of the Oil and Gas Transition Training
Fund, which opens today.
The fund will enable over a thousand more oil and gas workers to
benefit from funded training and careers advice that will enable
them to bring their skills and experience to the sustainable
energy, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and defence
sectors.
The new national scheme expands on a successful pilot, which saw
training funding applications approved for more than 400 North
Sea workers based in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, in which
94% of participants said cost was the biggest barrier to
accessing training.
The 2026-27 fund expands eligibility to anyone resident in
Scotland who has worked in a role servicing the oil and gas
industry in the last two years.
Energy Minister said:
"Scotland has the geography, we have the
infrastructure, and above all, we have the people to make the
most of the energy transition that is upon us.
The workforce that has driven Scotland's oil and
gas industry for generations is one of the most skilled and
experienced in the world and it is vital that their expertise is
preserved in the North East, and beyond.
A just and managed transition means putting
workers, and the communities that depend on them, at the heart of
the economic benefits created by that transition. That is exactly
what this fund intends to achieve by giving people the freedom to
take their world-class skills into new and growing sectors,
without being held back by the cost of training.
UK Energy Minister said:
"Thousands of jobs are being created right now in renewable
energy and upgrading our grid and we want to make it as easy as
possible for people with skills from the oil and gas industry to
take advantage of these opportunities.
"This programme has already been oversubscribed so we are
investing more to expand it to more skilled workers as part of
our commitment to deliver a fair and prosperous transition in the
North Sea."
Former Petrofac mechanical technician Michael Hill is
now in the process of applying for roles in the
clean energy sector after accessing training through a previous
round of the fund.
He said:
I've built up a lot of knowledge and transferable skills
during my time in oil and gas, and the training has helped me see
how those skills can apply in other industries.
I'd absolutely recommend applying if you're in oil and gas and
thinking about moving into renewables.
Frank Mitchell, Chair of Skills Development
Scotland, said:
The skills and expertise of Scotland's oil and gas workforce are
in demand across a number of growing sectors.
SDS advisers can help workers in the oil and gas industry to
reskill and upskill for careers in growing sectors to help them
build on their experience and ultimately transition into new
roles.
The fund will play an important role in ensuring communities
across Scotland benefit as much as possible from the continued
growth of these key sectors.
Background
Further information who is eligible and how to apply can be found
at: www.transitiontrainingfund.scot
The £6 million 2026-27 Oil and Gas
Transition Training Fund builds on a pilot that ran
from July 2025 to March 2026, which saw training funding
applications approved for more than 400 North Sea workers based
in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.
The Scottish Government will
invest a total of £9 million over the next three years to the Oil
and Gas Transition Training Fund, matched by £9 million from the
UK Government, to help oil and gas workers access careers
advice and funding for training.
Through initiatives such as the Just Transition
Fund and the Energy Transition Fund, the Scottish
Government has already invested more than £120 million
into transitioning the North East to net zero by creating
green jobs, supporting innovation, and securing the highly
skilled workforce of the future.
