As industries across the UK accelerate towards net zero targets, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is rapidly becoming one of the most important sectors in the UK’s energy transition plans. With billions being invested into low-carbon infrastructure, new career pathways are emerging across engineering, operations, sustainability, health and safety, and industrial training.
For training providers, colleges, employers, and learners, this presents a significant opportunity. The growing demand for carbon capture skills means there is an increasing need for regulated training and education programmes that prepare learners for the future of energy and industrial decarbonisation.
Whether supporting existing workers with upskilling and redeploying or helping new entrants understand carbon capture technologies, providers that invest early in CCS training can position themselves at the forefront of the green economy.
Individuals and employers looking to build foundational knowledge may want to look an introduction to Carbon Capture and Storage qualification, while organisations seeking more advanced operational and safety awareness may benefit from placing employees onto qualifications that provide a deeper level of knowledge such as a Level 3 Award in Carbon Capture and Storage Safety.
Carbon capture careers are expanding due to increasing pressure on industries to reduce emissions while maintaining productivity and energy security. Governments and private sector organisations are investing heavily in carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects to help decarbonise sectors such as manufacturing, power generation, and chemicals.
Across the UK, major industrial clusters are already developing large-scale CCS infrastructure. These projects require a broad range of skilled professionals, including:
Many workers from traditional oil and gas sectors are also transitioning into carbon capture roles because of their transferable technical and operational expertise.
As this workforce transition accelerates, employers are increasingly seeking candidates who understand carbon capture processes, industrial safety requirements, and sustainability principles. This is creating strong demand for recognised qualifications and industry-focused training.
Training providers can support this demand by offering specifically designed programmes that offer general applicational knowledge across net zero and sustainability, helping organisations develop wider environmental awareness alongside technical capability across their workforce.
One of the biggest challenges facing the carbon capture industry is the growing skills gap. As projects scale across the UK and internationally, employers are struggling to find employees with the right combination of technical understanding, operational awareness, and safety knowledge.
This creates a major opportunity for training and education providers.
Businesses are increasingly looking for accredited learning programmes that can help:
Providers that offer specialised carbon capture training can differentiate themselves within the expanding green skills market, especially by providing courses that combine technical awareness with practical safety understanding that are likely to become especially valuable as CCS infrastructure becomes more widespread.
For organisations introducing learners to the sector, a qualification that covers an introduction to carbon capture and storage provides a strong starting point for building foundational industry knowledge.
As carbon capture projects expand, safety will remain one of the industry’s highest priorities. Carbon dioxide transportation, storage systems, industrial processing facilities, and associated infrastructure all require robust operational and safety procedures.
Employers need workers who understand:
For training providers, offering recognised safety-focused qualifications can help meet employer demand while improving workforce readiness. Safety awareness is increasingly becoming a core requirement for anyone entering industrial decarbonisation sectors.
The SIAS Level 3 Award in Carbon Capture and Storage Safety is designed to support learners and organisations looking to strengthen their understanding of CCS-related safety principles and operational environments.
Hydrogen and carbon capture are developing side by side as part of the UK’s broader net zero strategy. Many hydrogen production methods rely on carbon capture technologies, meaning the two sectors increasingly share infrastructure, investment, and workforce requirements.
As a result, professionals entering carbon capture industries are also seeing growing opportunities within hydrogen production, transportation, and storage.
For providers, this creates an opportunity to diversify training portfolios and support a wider range of low-carbon industries.
Hydrogen safety awareness is becoming particularly important as more organisations explore hydrogen-powered systems and industrial applications. Workers need a clear understanding of safe handling procedures, operational risks, and regulatory considerations.
The SIAS Award in the Introduction to Hydrogen Safety can help learners develop essential introductory knowledge in this rapidly growing sector.
Beyond technical carbon capture knowledge, employers are increasingly looking for workers who understand sustainability, ESG priorities, and net zero practices.
Sustainability is no longer limited to environmental teams. It is becoming a core business requirement across operations, construction, manufacturing, logistics, and energy production.
As organisations work towards emissions reduction targets, they need employees who can:
This growing focus on sustainability creates further opportunities for training providers to deliver practical, industry-relevant learning programmes.
The SIAS Award in Applying Sustainability and Net Zero Practices supports organisations and learners looking to build stronger sustainability knowledge and workplace awareness.
Providers that move early into carbon capture, hydrogen safety, and sustainability training are likely to benefit from long-term growth as low-carbon industries continue to expand.
To remain competitive, providers should consider:
As industries transition towards cleaner energy systems, demand for practical, accessible, and industry-aligned learning will continue to increase.
Training providers that can help bridge the skills gap will play a critical role in preparing the future workforce.
Carbon capture careers are no longer a future concept; they are already reshaping the UK’s industrial and energy sectors. As investment in CCS, hydrogen, and sustainability continues to grow, organisations will increasingly need skilled workers who understand both technical operations and safe, sustainable working practices.
Explore SIAS qualifications supporting the transition to a low-carbon workforce.
SIAS and CPI Launch New Qualifications to Support the Future UK Paper Industry May 12, 2026SIAS and CPI Launch New Qualifications to Support the Future UK Paper Industry
SIAS is proud to announce the launch of the first qualification in a new suite of modern, regulated qualifications for the UK paper industry, developed in partnership with Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) and leading employers from across the sector.
The newly launched SIAS Level 2 Certificate in Fundamentals of Paper Technology has been designed to support the next generation of papermakers by equipping learners with the essential technical knowledge, industry understanding, and practical awareness needed in today’s evolving manufacturing environment.
The qualification forms part of a broader industry initiative to strengthen workforce capability and address the growing skills challenge facing the paper sector, as experienced professionals retire and demand increases for technically skilled operators and process specialists.
Developed collaboratively with CPI and employers, the revised curriculum reflects the realities of modern papermaking operations and aligns with the sector’s future priorities around sustainability, safety, quality, and operational excellence.
Learners completing the qualification will gain a structured introduction to:
The updated Level 2 qualification also complements the wider Level 3 Papermaking apprenticeship programme, helping employers create clear and progressive training pathways for new entrants and existing employees alike.
Steve Smith, Managing Director at SIAS, said:
“SIAS are incredibly proud to have been selected by the CPI to develop this new suite of modern, regulated qualifications for the paper industry.
Working closely with the CPI and leading employers across the sector has enabled us to create qualifications that genuinely reflect the skills and knowledge required in today’s modern paper industry, while also providing the consistency, portability, and quality assurance that global employers need.
Being close to industry and responsive to employer need is a real strength of SIAS, and I’m hugely proud of the work our team has delivered on this project. We’re excited about the positive impact these qualifications will have in supporting skills development and the future workforce across the important industrial sector.”
Andy Barnetson, Executive Director – Competitiveness at CPI, added:
“We are delighted to be launching this important Papermaking qualification. This approach supports both apprentices and employers by developing practical, future ready capability. This qualification is an important step in securing the training and career opportunities for the future of this important industry.”
As an Ofqual-approved Awarding Organisation specialising in STEM industries and future technologies, SIAS continues to work closely with employers and industry bodies to deliver qualifications that support long-term workforce development and industrial transformation.
View the full suite of SIAS qualifications
SIAS launches industry leading Level 2 and Level 3 Carbon Capture and Storage Qualifications March 6, 2026In light of this, delivering large-scale decarbonisation across heavy industry, power generation and manufacturing will require not only infrastructure and investment, but a skilled, safety-competent workforce ready to operate within this rapidly evolving sector.
SIAS is proud to announce the launch of two new qualifications designed specifically to meet this challenge:
Both qualifications come with online teaching and come with online learning resources, assessment is via an externally set online multiple choice question exam.
Operational from 7th March 2026, these qualifications represent a significant step forward in developing structured, industry-aligned skills pathways for the carbon capture and storage industry.
While awareness of carbon capture has grown in recent years, accessible and regulated qualifications tailored specifically to the sector have remained limited. Training provision has often been fragmented; delivered through short courses, internal employer programmes, or adapted training from adjacent industries.
The Carbon Capture Skills Framework was developed to address this challenge. It outlines the knowledge, behaviours and competencies required across the CCS value chain, from entry-level awareness through to advanced operational and safety-critical roles. Its goals are clear:
SIAS has worked directly against this framework to design qualifications that are structured, regulated and responsive to employer need.
These new qualifications have been developed in consultation with industry employers, technical specialists and sector stakeholders working across carbon capture, transport and storage operations.
Through employer feedback and collaborative design workshops, SIAS ensured that content reflects real-world operational demands from understanding CO₂ process hazards to recognising the critical importance of geological storage integrity and emergency response planning.
The result is a suite of qualifications that provides both foundational understanding and applied safety knowledge — equipping learners with the competence industry has identified as essential for success.
The SIAS Level 2 Award in the Introduction to Carbon Capture and Storage provides learners with a structured and accessible entry point into the sector. Learners will develop knowledge of:
As CCS facilities scale up, safety, compliance and process integrity are paramount. The SIAS Level 3 Award in Carbon Capture and Storage Safety provides learners with the applied knowledge required to safely operate, monitor and manage CCS processes. Coverage includes:
As an Awarding Organisation regulated in England and Northern Ireland, SIAS is committed to driving positive change across STEM and low-carbon industries.
Therefore, launching these qualifications reflects more than curriculum development, it represents a commitment from SIAS to supporting national decarbonisation, strengthening workforce capability, and empowering learners to play an active role in the transition to a sustainable future.
Click here for further information on our clean energy and green skills qualifications.
If you are interested in delivering these qualifications, please contact your partnerships and growth manager or email partnerships@siasuk.com
Together, we are #AlwaysMovingForward.
Nostalgia Is Not a Strategy: Navigating the New Era of Apprenticeship Assessment February 12, 2026The further education and skills sector is facing one of the most significant shifts in its recent history. The move away from end-point assessment towards a new, principles driven apprenticeship assessment model is not a technical tweak, it is a fundamental change in how we think about quality, assurance and trust.
In a recent speech at Davos, Mark Carney, Canada’s Prime Minister, reminded global leaders that “nostalgia is not a strategy.” That phrase has stayed with me because it resonates so strongly with where our sector now stands. It is understandable to look back at what felt familiar and certain, but the reality is that the old model is not coming back.
The question is not whether change will happen, but how we choose to respond to it.
This new assessment landscape brings real challenges. It asks providers and AOs to rethink delivery models, build new capability and have confidence in different approaches to assessment and marking.
Yet it also creates opportunity.
Opportunities for the best Awarding Organisations to design assessment that is better aligned to learning, more responsive to employers, and more embedded within programmes rather than bolted on at the end.
To make this work, mindset matters. We need to move from a defensive posture to a constructive one. From seeing change as something being done to us, to recognising it as something we can actively shape.
At SIAS, that belief sits at the heart of our culture, we are leaning into this moment.
Our new, agile, and flexible assessment models reflect the new rules and realities of the system. This new SIAS assessment is driven by a simple principle: putting providers and employers and what they need at the heart of our approach.
Our new assessment strategies are designed to support those who want to take greater ownership of assessment within their programmes, while also allowing us to continue working alongside providers who need or prefer awarding organisation-led delivery. It is a deliberately tailored model, built around choice and collaboration rather than a single mandated pathway, recognising that providers will start from different places and face different constraints as they navigate this transition.
Leadership in this moment is not about holding on. It is about stepping forward, with clarity, confidence and purpose.
To understand more on apprenticeship reforms, visit gov.uk.