Where is the continuing education industry currently? Where will she move in the next few months? Is in the face of increasing digitization in Companies with one growth of the training market to be expected? The Onlineportal kursfinder.de wanted to know and went in search of industry trends.

Continuing education survey
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International survey in five countries

Answers were provided by an international survey of further training providers in Germany, France, Great Britain, Sweden and Finland, in which 436 further training providers took part.

The European providers surveyed look back on the past year with mixed feelings. The survey participants from Germany are the most satisfied: 54% have the impression that in the past year the expenditure for cont Further Training have risen.

Investment in training

That investment in things Further Training less than half of those surveyed stated that they had remained the same or decreased. The judgment of the other nations is not quite as rosy: the majority of providers outside Germany assume that investments in further training will decline or stagnate. The French are sending a clear signal: 76% of the survey participants in the neighboring country deny that expenditure on further training has increased.

However, the survey participants show themselves optimistic, as far as their future forecasts are concerned: Half of the German providers surveyed expect that in 2017 sales will be able to be maintained at the level of the previous year. As many as 48% expect an increase in sales. The other European providers of continuing education are looking to the next few months with similar confidence. 50% of Finns are preparing for an increase in sales, 34% for staying the same. In France, 47% of the providers assume that investments in further and advanced training will increase, 41% that they will remain stable. The British are the most optimistic: Here 72% expect an increase in sales compared to the previous year, only 6% expect a decrease in sales.

eLearning does not matter much

But which form of continuing education is most popular in Europe? Contrary to the trend towards digitization, eLearning does not play a major role in the countries that took part in the kursfinder.de survey. Only 4% of German providers consider this type of course to be the most successful form of continuing education; in Scandinavia it is even less. All countries, on the other hand, focus on open seminars and in-house trainings. In Germany (48%), Great Britain (50%) and Sweden (52%), open seminars ranked among the most successful continuing education courses, with in-houseCourses being the most popular in France (50%) and Finland (51,5%).

It is nothing new that the continuing education market is highly competitive. But how do the seminar providers manage to stand out despite the great competition? successfully position in the market? There are three essential factors that European providers rely on: On the one hand, the quality of the further training content plays an immense role, on the other hand the quality of the lecturers, but also the reputation and brand image of the providers. The majority of respondents in Germany, Finland and Great Britain see the quality of further education content as the greatest factor Success factor, Reputation and brand image take first place in Sweden, which comes in third place among the German providers.