2023 Training Industry Benchmark Report

1 2023. State of the Training Industry Benchmark Report . Contents Introduction 3. About the survey respondents 4. Key findings 5. Types of courses offered 6. Training delivery methods 7. Training services offered 8. Booking methods 9. Training administration 10. Software trends 11. Sales & marketing 12. Top sources for Industry news 13. Measuring success 14. Biggest challenges for 2023 15. Biggest opportunities for 2023 16. Training Industry outlook 17. The learner Report 18-19. Conclusion 20. Introduction We are thrilled to share this year's State of the Training Industry Benchmark Report . This is our 7th year taking the pulse of the Training Industry ; understanding key trends in Training delivery, technology, sales and marketing, as well as the challenges and opportunities facing Training providers. This is also our 2nd year surveying learners, to further understand the Training Industry from their perspective; and how learner demands in the current market are being addressed by Training providers.

2 This Benchmark Report has been designed to inform decision-making and provides an understanding of how other professionals perceive the Industry in 2023, how this compares to previous years, and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. I hope you enjoy accessplanit's 2023 edition of the State of the Training Industry Benchmark Report . Dave Evans Chairman The Training Industry Benchmark Report 2023 3. About the survey respondents The State of the Training Industry Benchmark Report captures insight across a wide demographic of professionals in the Training Industry . Respondent company size Now in it's seventh year, the data from our annual Training Industry Number of delegates trained annually Survey helps us to provide an holistic and realistic overview of the trends, patterns and changes to the Training Industry each year. 0-2500. 2501-5000. We recognise that each Training professional has different aims, objectives and interests within their role, both for their business 5001-10000.

3 And within the wider Industry . For this reason, we have captured the 10001+. thoughts of 4 key personas we know to exist within the Industry , to help us better understand the responses to each question and draw more accurate conclusions from our data. The majority of The primary objective of respondents respondents identified the primary objective of their job role as "business profitability". This is the persona in which we expect to see key decision-makers, such as Managing Directors and CEOs. What is the primary objective of your job role? Business profitability According to the Learning and Work Institute, the majority of UK. Training providers are small. Over two-thirds (68%) of Training Customer experience companies have fewer than 5 employees, and only 5% have more Manage certification/compliance than 50 staff. This is reflected in the quotient of our respondents this year, as 64% of responses were from professionals working Manage IT/learning platforms within smaller Training companies.

4 This allows us to share data that is representative of Training companies in the UK today. The Training Industry Benchmark Report 2023 4. Key findings In-person classroom Training Only a third of Training LinkedIn remains the most Most Training providers (55%). remains the top Training providers say that they take the popular social media channel note the increase in popularity delivery method, offered by majority (75-100%) of their used by Training providers (83%) of online learning as a key 89% of providers course bookings online to promote their business opportunity this year On-demand, self-paced Processing course bookings Reputation and word of mouth Rising costs, increased Training is the preferred delivery and enquiries is the most time remains the most effective competition, staff retention method for most learners consuming administrative marketing channel for the fourth and opportunities for growth task for the majority of Training consecutive year, being relied were cited most often by professionals (58%) upon by 81% of Training providers Training providers when asked about their outlook for 2023.

5 The Training Industry Benchmark Report 2023 54. Types of courses offered Online learning is here to stay Types of courses offered by Training providers in the past, present and future It seems the talk of the "rise of digital" over the past 2022 2023 Future couple of years has truly filtered into Training 75%. providers' main offerings this year. We've all long recovered from our Zoom fatigue; and with rising 50%. costs of facilitating in-person courses, it may be that Training providers are seeing the ROI of virtual more than ever before. 25%. Last years' most popular course types (in-house and workshops) have both declined in number this year, 0%. with Training providers sharing that they expect a eLearning In-house Open courses Blended learning Seminars Workshops Other further 14% drop in focus of these course types in the next 12 months. Conversely, virtual courses Expected course types vs. reality types such as eLearning and blended learning are 2022 predictions 2023 reality averaging at similar levels to 2022, and are predicted 75%.

6 To increase in popularity next year. Over 50% of Training providers say blended learning is a focus for them in 2024. 50%. Despite seeing a downward trend of in-person course 25%. types, in-house remains the most popular type of course offered, with 66% of Training providers offering this type of course. 0%. eLearning In-house Open courses Blended learning Seminars Workshops Other The Training Industry Benchmark Report 2023 6. Training delivery methods Alternative delivery methods continue to rise Last year, we reported seeing the rise of alternative Training delivery methods methods are generally delivered virtually, the increase does mirror the trends such as video, quizzes, and content downloads. We have again seen a we're continuing to see in terms of course types offered, too. significant increase in these less traditional delivery methods in 2023 - most It is important to note that despite a slight decrease in use this year, notably, a sharp rise in the use of downloadable content for learners, with in-person classroom Training yet again comes out on top, with a whopping 53% of Training providers using this as a method of Training delivery.

7 As these 89% of providers delivering Training in this way. Training delivery methods last year vs. this year 2022 2023. In-person classroom Training Live virtual Training Podcasts On-demand webinars Watch: eLearning 1-1 coaching Cohort collaboration Video Quizzes Content downloads Other 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%. The Training Industry Benchmark Report 2023 7. Training services offered There's less variety being offered virtual instructor-led Training , with a huge 29% This thought is further reinforced by the lack of decrease this year. With other Training services alternative Training services being offered this This year, we've seen pretty sharp declines in a failing to make up this deficit, could it be that year. Last year, we saw upward trends in less- variety of services, including short courses tighter budgets this year are constraining Training traditional Training services such as gamification (-13%), online self-service (-13%), and instructor- providers to only focus on offering a select few and augmented/virtual reality.

8 That has not led Training (-10%). The largest shift however, is Training services to their customers? materialised this year; the percentage of Training providers offering gamification has stayed around 2022 2023 Future the 7-8% mark, and no Training providers surveyed this year were offering augmented or virtual reality Short courses to their customers. Managed service The rise of online services Apprenticeships Again, similar to the trends seen in the types of Distance learning courses Training providers are offering, and the Online self-service learning methods in which they're delivering them, we're seeing an increase in virtual options for Training Gamification services. Augmented/virtual reality The percentage of providers offering managed Virtual instructor-led (vILT) services has more than doubled from the previous year, with almost 20% of Training providers now Instructor-led Training (ILT).

9 Offering these. 1-1/coaching Sessional courses Learn more: how to increase the sales of your corporate Training packages Other 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%. The Training Industry Benchmark Report 2023 8. Booking methods A slow but steady increase Amount of bookings and enquiries made online, by year It would be expected that with the rise of the popularity of Few (0-25%) Some (25-50%) Most (50-75%). online learning methods - both being offered by Training Majority (75-100%). providers and preferred by learners (more on that later) - we 80%. would see a similar upward trend in the amount of course bookings taken online. 60%. We've only seen a slight increase of just 2% of Training providers taking the majority of their course bookings online compared to 2022. 40%. In previous years, we've seen dramatic rises in the percentage 20%. of Training providers taking the majority of their bookings online, as well as even sharper decreases in those noting that they take "few" bookings online.

10 0%. 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023. Despite the levelling out of the year-on-year stats, 54% of all Training providers are now taking at least half of their bookings online. It's also important to consider that some Training providers 54% of Training providers are now taking at will never offer an online booking option due to the nature of 54% least half of their bookings online the courses they run, or the type of customers they serve; so as more and more Training providers transition to online bookings, the trends may well be softened by those providers who will never have an online booking option. The Training Industry Benchmark Report 2023 9. Training administration Top administrative pains for Training professionals in 2023. 58% 55% 50% 39%. Processing course Course Creating course Course and event bookings and enquiries promotion material scheduling Time wasted on mindless admin Processing course bookings Course promotion Creating course material Course and event scheduling As we all know, Training comes with more than its fair share of administration.