The Learning Awards 2026 Winners Take the Spotlight
The Learning Awards 2026 Winners Shine on the Global Stage
LONDON, 12 February 2026 – Over 800 international guests from the workplace learning and development sector came together in London for the 30th Annual Learning Awards, a night dedicated to celebrating excellence, innovation, and transformative impact in workplace learning.
Hosted exclusively by the Learning and Performance Institute (LPI), the Learning Awards are widely recognised as the premier awards ceremony in the L&D industry. This year’s event, held at the prestigious JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, was presented by renowned British TV and radio personality Claudia Winkleman.
With entries submitted from 56 countries, the 2026 awards saw a record-breaking number of nominations, highlighting the global reach and influence of workplace learning initiatives. A panel of 66 industry leaders carefully evaluated each submission, ensuring a rigorous and independent judging process.
“The Learning Awards has reached a significant milestone - 30 years of recognising excellence, celebrating success, and showcasing the incredible impact that learning professionals and organisations have on people’s lives and careers” said Edmund Monk, CEO of the LPI. “2026's record-breaking entries demonstrate that the learning industry is still vibrant, still innovative, and continues to transform businesses and empower individuals worldwide.”
The evening began with an opening address from Edmund Monk, followed by the LPI Charity Auction in support of The King’s Trust, a UK charity dedicated to empowering young people through education, leadership, and personal development opportunities.
The headline partner for the 30th Annual Learning Awards was Microsoft, further reinforcing the event’s status as a leading platform for recognising excellence in learning and development.
The Learning Awards 2026 Winners
PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR PUBLIC SECTOR/NOT FOR PROFIT (Sponsored by Ashorne Hill)
WINNERS
Gold: Home Office Asylum Mental Health and Wellbeing team, Hedroc & CDS DS
Silver: Child Mind Institute & Sponge
Bronze: British Red Cross
FINALISTS
Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, United Nations Secretariat
Department of Transport and Planning (Victoria, Australia)
Everybody Health & Leisure
NIHR & Cappfinity
Schulich ExecEd & The Canadian Association of Women in Construction
PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR PRIVATE SECTOR (Sponsored by The Institute of Leadership)
WINNERS
Gold: Dishoom
Silver: GAIL’s Bakery
Bronze: Aggreko
FINALISTS
Bright Horizons
Delivery Hero SE
Dell Technologies
Deloitte UK & MindTools
Musgrave
APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR
WINNERS
Gold: WSH
Silver: ServiceNow & Northeastern University London
Bronze: MDS
FINALISTS
Portfolio Builders
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
Screwfix
SoftwareOne
ONBOARDING PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by ARuVR)
WINNERS
Gold: Solvd Together & Deloitte
Silver: Petrobras
Bronze: AIA Group
FINALISTS
Dave’s Hot Chicken
HPE-Juniper Networks
Marks & Spencer Czech Republic, a
MMR Research
Smart DCC
LEARNING LEADER OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by The Leadership Psychology Institute)
WINNERS
Gold: Hélène Fournier, GardaWorld
Silver: Steve Rush, MSCI
Bronze: Jo Charlesworth, Sheffield City Council
FINALISTS
Anne-Marie Edwards, Direct Line (part of Aviva PLC)
Martin Hess, Boehringer Ingelheim
Alexander Lapthorne, Disguise Learn
Keith Lillico, Merck
Nikki Redman-Wray, JCDecaux
RISING STAR OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Microsoft)
WINNERS
Gold: Giulia Citro, AS Watson
Silver: Zoe Bloomfield, Ciphr
Bronze: Eve Davis, Osborne Clarke
FINALISTS
Dev Aditya, Otermans Institute
Emily Brooks, CDS Defence and Security
Dorrianne Casey, BM Caterers
Jamie Forman, VML
Miguel Ruiz Capella, Santander Spain
INTERNAL LEARNING SOLUTION OF THE YEAR AWARD (Sponsored by Afiniti)
WINNERS
Gold: Direct Line (part of Aviva )
Silver: Deloitte
Bronze: Dishoom
FINALISTS
BAT & EY Lane4
Campari Group
Dave’s Hot Chicken
Dubai Airports
HPE Networking
EXTERNAL LEARNING SOLUTION OF THE YEAR AWARD (Sponsored by Hemsley Fraser)
WINNERS
Gold: Thompson Harrison
Silver: Hemisphere Education – Rare for the Greenwich Learning Partnership
Bronze: Cowry Consulting
FINALISTS
HSBC, GP Strategies & The Edge
Learning Pool & NatWest
New Leaf Technologies
SiyonaTech &
Specsavers & Mediazoo
LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES AWARD (Sponsored by Talvi)
WINNERS
Gold: Home Team Academy, Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore
Silver: TD – North American Customer Operations
Bronze: Shell
FINALISTS
Health Education & Improvement Wales
National eLearning Center
Serás Formación
Thinqi & London Business School
Vodafone Group & GameChanger
INNOVATION IN LEARNING AWARD PROGRAMME
WINNERS
Gold: VML
Silver: BAT
Bronze: CMI Media Group & Compas
FINALISTS
Calix & Skillable
Dell Technologies
Infopro Learning & Nordea
IU Group
Repsol
INNOVATION IN LEARNING AWARD PLATFORM (Sponsored by ServiceNow University )
WINNERS
Gold: Otermans Institute
Silver: Efekta Education Group
Bronze: Skillable
FINALISTS
7taps Microlearning
GoodHabitz Experts
Lidl International
Thinqi & KAUST
Vodafone Group & GameChanger
DIGITAL LEARNING TRANSFORMATION OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Abilitie)
WINNERS
Gold: MSCI
Silver: Housing 21
Bronze: Tecnológico de Monterrey
FINALISTS
mci group
National eLearning Center
Novuna
Repsol
Unilever & NIIT
START-UP LEARNING PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
WINNERS
Gold: FuturU
Silver: Embed
Bronze: Teddy AI
FINALISTS
BridgeSpark Learning
Brit Stars UK
Coachable
Freeformers
Reimagine Learning
LEARNING PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Lidl)
WINNERS
Gold: Teresa Beazley, The Lighting Industry Association
Silver: Kathryn Swandale, Immediate
Bronze: Karthik Raghuraman, Cognizant
FINALISTS
Craig Hamill, M&G
Dinye Hernanda, Remote
Sophia Newman, VML Enterprise Solutions
Robert Taylor, Learning Pool
Linsey Thomas, Direct Line (part of AVIVA PLC)
LEARNING PLATFORM OF THE YEAR
WINNERS
Gold: The Blue Line by the UN System Staff College
Silver: Learn Amp & Specsavers
Bronze: Otermans Institute
FINALISTS
Akbank
Aptem & Pareto
Mphasis
Nord Anglia Education
TD – North American Customer Operations
LEARNING TEAM OF THE YEAR
WINNERS
Gold: VML
Silver: GardaWorld
Bronze: Nationwide Building Society
FINALISTS
Aventum
Network Rail
NHS Property Services
TSB Bank
UNICC
LEARNING IMPACT AWARD (Sponsored by Infopro Learning )
WINNERS
Gold: Unilever
Silver: Nationwide Building Society
Bronze: Cowry Consulting
FINALISTS
Siyona Tech & HARMAN International
Nottingham Building Society
Peerpod & Wild
ServiceNow
Wilson James
THE LEARNING CULTURE OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Blue Eskimo)
WINNERS
Gold: Bright Horizons
Silver: Dubai Airports
Bronze: MSCI
FINALISTS
AS Watson
Buro Happold
Circle Health Group
JCDecaux
Rise Technical Recruitment
BEST USE OF AI IN LEARNING (Sponsored by AI CERTs )
WINNERS
Gold: Efekta Education Group
Silver: Otermans Institute
Bronze: Vodafone & GameChanger
FINALISTS
Infopro Learning & Lenovo
KPMG Learning Services
Microsoft
MSCI
TD – North American Customer Operations
LEARNING PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
WINNERS
Gold: Efekta Education Group
Silver: Mediazoo
Bronze: Inspiro Learning
FINALISTS
Avado Learning
First Intuition
High Speed Training
Learning Pool
Spacechips
LEARNING GIVEBACK AWARD
WINNERS
Gold: Vichy Laboratoires & GP Strategies
Silver: Ukrainian St Mary’s Trust & Nestlé UK&I
Bronze: SoftwareOne
FINALISTS
Infopro Learning
MIMS Learning & Haymarket Media Group
Otermans Institute
ServiceNow
THE COLIN STEED AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO LEARNING (Sponsored by Informa Connect Academy )
WINNER
David James - 360Learning