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How much does our training cost?
A very natural question that you’ll have on seeking out training is, ‘What will it cost?’
The short answer is: it depends. The long answer should help you more. [Looking for in-house training for a group? Click to jump to that section.]
If you’re looking to join one of our scheduled courses for individuals (sometimes known as ‘open courses’) or subscribe to our comprehensive business-writing e-learning, it’s more straightforward.
An open course place costs £495 (+VAT), and you can subscribe to our e-learning for £15 (+VAT) a month – or get yourself lifetime access for £150 (+VAT). Although, if you join one of our remote (online) open courses, you’ll get lifetime access to the e-learning included at no extra cost. And all our open course places include our unique writing analysis, showing you exactly how the training applies to your writing habits and how to make rapid improvements.
We do offer discounts on open courses for the third sector, self-funded attendees and for booking multiple places. Do note, though, that above a certain number of delegates, it actually makes more financial sense to run an in-house programme. And that will also be tailored to your organisation’s documents, style and challenges.
If you are looking for something in our main area of specialism – tailored in-house training – then this is where answering the cost question gets a little more complex.
This is because we don’t deal in off-the-shelf solutions. We want to help make a real difference for you and your team. And we’ve learned that the best way to do that is by taking the time to understand exactly what led you to seek out training in the first place.
That way we can work with you to identify the kind of solution that will help you solve your challenges or meet your goals. You’ll have good reasons for looking to change how your team members approach the process of researching, drafting, co-authoring or editing their reports, emails, bids, press releases, policies – or whatever else they write. We listen to those reasons, and what it is you need to change. Then we can talk you through what we recommend.
Generic courses generally don’t get to the root of a unique set of challenges in a department or organisation. So our interventions vary. But programmes generally consist of some combination of:
These are the building blocks, but not every programme includes every one. It will depend on what you want to achieve. Need to transform your board reporting to ensure effective corporate governance? This will probably involve workshops, coaching and guidance. Need to help your teams understand the best channels for communicating different messages virtually? This could be tackled in an interactive webinar.
If this all sounds more complicated than you were looking for, don’t worry. Often, the key (sometimes only) part of the recommended course of action is a tailored workshop for a specific group or team. We’ll design this based on our conversations with you. And we’ll tailor the materials using real-life examples of your documents, to ensure the content is relevant and easy to put into practice.
For a group of eight to ten, the price for one course will range from £1,900–3,900 per course (£238–£390 per delegate). A course is typically 3–7 hours long (sometimes split across multiple sessions). The sessions are practical, engaging and interactive – passive listening doesn’t generally produce change.
We will also analyse a sample of writing from each participant and feed back their results along with individual guidance during the training. This is key to ensuring each learner gets the full impact of the training.
‘The feedback I received for my technical writing was fantastic. There were so many annotations and comments. This will really help me with all future writing tasks.’ – Celia Wighton, Radioactive Waste Management
This is another good question which also doesn’t have a totally clear-cut answer. The training industry is a tough thing to define in the first place, given the dizzying array of learning options available these days.
And we occupy a fairly niche part of the industry. But here you can still find a whole spectrum of possible solutions, from browser extensions and apps to e-learning, online courses and both generic and bespoke instructor-led workshops.
If you’re thinking that we cost rather a lot more than a browser extension, you’re quite right. But there’s the difficulty with this sort of benchmark: you’re often not comparing like for like. An app or browser extension may well highlight areas in your team’s writing that need attention – it may also suggest how to change them. This can be really helpful. But you’ll need to think about whether this, in isolation, will meet your needs.
Like most tools, these things work best when you have a fundamental understanding already, to put the recommendations in context. And they’ll also struggle to solve deeper challenges that involve processes or habits. An app may change how users phrase or punctuate a sentence, but will it change how they plan and structure whole documents, whether they consider their reader’s needs first, and how (or if) they edit their work?
You could also probably find a cheaper instructor-led course. And this may fit what you’re looking for. But again, it may not be a like-for-like comparison. In this corner of the training industry, you’ll find a mixture of generalists and specialists; one-man bands, third-party resellers and organisations with dedicated teams; generic course materials and bespoke solutions.
Since we started in 1998, we’ve aimed to be what we see as the best of these options, as that’s what we believe works. We’re specialists who take a consultative approach and produce bespoke training programmes. With us, you’ll get:
That’s because we want the whole process – from first contact to following up on results and continuing to support you after the training – to be as seamless and effective as possible.
We’re not everyone’s solution – and we may not be yours. But if you’re looking for something that can create real change and real results for your team, let’s talk.