Nuffield Foundation Essential Employment Skills Fund 2026

The Essential Employment Skills Fund provides grants to evaluate how interventions support 16–24-year-olds in the UK to develop essential employment skills and progress into good jobs. Grants are awarded to fund rigorous evaluations of programmes addressing barriers to employment, with the aim of generating evidence that can be scaled or adapted to different settings. Maximum grants for evaluation are up to £500,000, with potential additional funding to contribute toward programme-delivery costs in appropriate circumstances.

Funding for rigorous evaluations of relevant programmes; potential additional support for delivery costs

Applicants must propose evaluations of programmes that help UK-based young people aged 16–24 facing significant barriers to employment develop essential employment skills.

Outline applications due by 10 December 2026; shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit full applications in 2027