The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s (ECITB) free e-learning platform has seen significant growth in its second year.
Industry further “embraced” the Learning Experience Platform (LXP) in 2024 to the point that an apprentice at one employer won a national award off the back of training he caried out on the portal.
The LXP was launched in January 2023, providing 8,500 free online courses to in-scope ECITB employers within the engineering construction industry (ECI).
After 10,089 courses were completed by 6,148 different users in its first year, the platform surpassed these figures in less than four months in 2024.
In total, 45,667 courses were completed by 23,160 users in 2024, delivering £1.55 million in value-add to industry.
Using the platform has then enabled employers to use funds from the levy grant system on other training for their workforce.
On average, the ECITB issues 125 successful course completion messages each day as workers from 148 employers use the LXP to access courses from more than 50 different e-learning content providers.
The top courses in 2024 have been manual handling, COSHH, risk assessments, PPE, fire awareness and noise awareness.
Improving the LXP
As part of its work further improving the LXP in 2024, the ECITB introduced a series of new courses and features to the platform, including its Autumn/Winter Content Collection release.
These include:
- Adding a new content search index to make it easier to find relevant courses, plus a new side-load navigation menu and customised welcome to provide users with quick and easy access to updates and training progress.
- Launching an Introduction to Decarbonising Engineering Construction, also known as the Engineering Net Zero course, to enhance the industry’s readiness for net zero which is now broken down into four digestible modules.
- Releasing a Clean Energy Technologies course, which explores established and emerging technologies such as solar, wind, hydrogen and carbon capture.
- Helping employees practice and improve communication skills in challenging workplace scenarios courtesy of an innovative tool using AI-generated characters.
- Adding 80+ industry-specific courses from new content provider 3t digital, such as hazard identification, working at height and waste management.
Learning Experience Platform case study
Wigan-based project consultancy Herne Group, an SME employing around 20 staff, has reported a hugely positive impact from using the LXP.
Mike Preston, Director of Training & Compliance at Herne, said: “We’ve really embraced the LXP, got great value out of it and been amazed about how much content there is.
“Access to coding courses, Advanced Microsoft Excel and Power BI aligned perfectly with a key project opportunity. This enabled us to fast-track the development of one of our apprentices, whose exceptional contributions led to an award nomination, which he then went on to win!”
Level 3 Apprentice Project Controls Technician Lewis White, 20, was named Apprentice of the Year at the 2024 ECI Training and Development Awards.
The judges recognised Lewis for using the Power Bi skills he developed through the LXP to turn a work placement into a billable role. He used the skills he gained to create a significant reporting dashboard for a major nuclear decommissioning project.
“The LXP gives us a platform to develop reporting skills, which is a key component of project controls (PC),” added Mike.
“These skills have allowed apprentices, like Lewis, to develop into well-rounded project controls professionals, inputting large amounts of data into Power Bi and giving projects new reporting capabilities.”
Pictured: Herne Group’s Lewis White, left, and Sam Forshaw (PC and PC Degree Apprentices) with Director Mike Preston at the ECI Awards 2024 and (main picture) at work in Wigan
Flexible LXP proving beneficial
Mike says Herne Group recognised the “genuine value” of the training on the LXP immediately and uses the platform to put new entrants through courses when joining.
Workers across the business have also used the platform, such as for IT training and after moving to new offices when they were enrolled onto courses such as fire safety.
“We’ve found the LXP really useful and beneficial, especially to get new entrants trained up and for developing existing staff,” said Mike.
“The flexibility, quick accessibility and fact we can do the training when we want really helps as we’re not having to find external training.
“My advice to other employers would be to recognise the support that’s available from the ECITB around training and a big part of that now is the LXP.
“When you’re building your training plans, consider what’s on the LXP as it’s easy to use, convenient and saves money.”
