The Professional Training Guide (2026)

Chapter I

What is professional training?

Defining professional training

Defined by Article L6111-1 of the Code du travail (France's Labour Code), professional training is an individual right that enables everyone to gain the skills needed to practise an occupation.

Open to all, whatever their status or socio-professional category, the right to training gives every individual the opportunity to acquire professional knowledge. First, with a view to entering the labour market, then by opening up access to training to maintain and enrich one's expertise throughout a career.

To this end, professional training as described in the Code du travail actually falls into two categories. On the one hand, initial training, which concerns younger people learning a trade and, on the other hand, continuing training, which is aimed at people already established in the labour market and looking to develop their skills.

The differences between initial training and continuing professional training

While, as we have seen, the first difference between these two training systems lies in their target audience, the distinctions do not stop there.

Initial training

Initial professional training follows on from the school curriculum. It therefore corresponds to the lessons followed by young people as part of their training for a defined occupation before entering working life.

Delivered by vocational secondary schools and higher education institutions, initial training is undertaken full time and aims to obtain a qualification at the end of the vocational teaching period.

Subsequently, as soon as a person leaves the "initial" system for two years, they then move into the continuing professional training system, and this for the rest of their working life.

Continuing professional training

Continuing training thus targets a broader audience: employees, the self-employed, jobseekers. As a result, the ways of accessing it are different and better suited to the constraints of working life.

It is possible, for example, to follow a continuing training course during or outside working hours, in person or remotely (e-learning), over a longer or shorter period depending on the learning programme.

What is more, continuing training meets a variety of needs. It makes it possible to strengthen or update skills, but also to acquire new ones, with a view to career progression or, for example, as part of a career change.

Undertaken on the initiative of the beneficiary or their employer, the teaching modules followed as part of continuing training do not always lead to a qualification, but may allow a certification or a qualification to be obtained.

So, despite these differences, the two types of professional training are complementary, offering everyone the chance to enrich their career path.

Key figures & trends

Professional training is recognised as strategic by 93.3% of HR professionals. For them, it primarily serves company strategy (51%) and is a lever for employee retention (49%).

Yet, when asked about the level of engagement of their learners, companies give an average score of 6.9/10. And 70% of HR professionals feel that internal communication around training is not satisfactory enough.

The finding is clear: training is a priority on paper, but it still struggles to truly engage employees. For frontline teams (who have no fixed desk, no dedicated training time and no easy access to traditional schemes), this gap is even more pronounced.

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Digital has established itself, but not on its own

Digital learning now accounts for 30% of the training rolled out in companies. A steady rise, accelerated by the growth of mobile and short formats. But the engagement figures are a reminder of a reality: digitalising training is not enough to make it effective. The format matters as much as the content.

Soft skills, the key skills of the frontline

30% of training is now geared towards developing soft skills. The five most sought-after: verbal communication, time management, stress management, self-confidence, active listening. Skills that are not acquired behind a screen, and that come into their own in formats combining real-world practice and digital learning.

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What schemes are there to fund continuing professional training?

The CPF and funding schemes

The law on the freedom to choose one's professional future profoundly reshaped access to training. The CPF (compte personnel de formation, France's individual training account) is its emblem: attached to the person rather than the employment contract, it allows every working person to independently fund skills-development activities, such as a diploma, certification, a bilan de compétences (France's skills assessment scheme) or a VAE (validation des acquis de l'expérience, France's accreditation of prior experiential learning).

Since 2023, a flat-rate contribution of €100 has been required from holders wishing to use their CPF, unless covered by the employer or Pôle emploi (France's public employment service).

Beyond the CPF, private-sector employees can draw on their company's plan de développement des compétences (France's skills-development plan), the Projet de Transition Professionnelle (CPF de transition, France's professional transition scheme) or the Pro-A (France's work-based retraining scheme). Self-employed workers have access to the Fonds d'Assurance Formation (FAF, France's sector training insurance funds) for their sector. Public-sector staff have specific schemes, including credit in hours rather than in euros.

Professional training is accessible to everyone, but navigating its schemes requires a genuine understanding of the system. That is why the following chapters set out the rights, obligations and concrete levers available to companies and individuals.

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Chapter II

History and laws of professional training

From its appearance in the Code du travail through to today, professional training has evolved in line with changes in the law and shifts in ways of working and training.

History and laws of professional training

From 1939 to the 2000s

1939: The decree of 6 May 1939 organised professional training for wartime in order to supply labour to the metalworking sector. Accelerated training centres were set up for private companies, industrial establishments and arms factories. (3)

1946: Enshrined in the preamble to the Constitution. Training moved from an individual conception to a state-led approach whereby it was for the State, and the State alone, to intervene in this area.

1970: First introduction of professional training during working hours thanks to the national cross-industry agreement signed by the social partners. The individual training leave (CIF, congé individuel de formation) was created.

1981: Creation of the Ministry of Training

1982: Introduction of the compulsory contribution from companies for continuing professional training. 0.1% of their payroll had to be paid to joint bodies approved by the State.

1983: Creation of the Fongecif (Fonds de Gestion du Congé Individuel de Formation, France's individual training leave management funds)

1984:
- The powers of works councils were strengthened in respect of training: there had to be 2 annual meetings of the works council on training.
- The law now imposed an obligation to negotiate on professional training within industry branches or companies.

1990: Introduction of two controls to prevent the disorderly growth of training organisations:
- A right to certification of training organisations to verify their quality.
- A consumer right to training in order to protect them.

1991:
- A funding obligation applicable to all companies.
- Creation of the skills-assessment leave.
- Individual training leave (CIF) was opened up to employees at the end of a fixed-term contract, under certain conditions.

1993: Reorganisation of training funding and creation of the OPCA (Organismes Paritaires Collecteurs Agréés, France's approved joint collecting bodies). These bodies enable employees to follow training activities included in the company's training plan during their working hours.

From the year 2000 to today

2000: The Aubry II Act: an obligation for employers to adapt their employees to changes in jobs, and protection for employees if they refuse training. This does not constitute grounds justifying dismissal.

2002: Introduction of the VAE leave, to allow accreditation of prior experiential learning.

2004:
- Signing of the National Cross-industry Agreement (ANI, accord national interprofessionnel) on lifelong training.
- Companies had to pay 0.2% of their payroll to fund requests from employees on permanent contracts.

2009:
- Signing of two national cross-industry agreements on developing lifelong professional training, professionalisation and securing career paths.
- New law 2009-1437: creation of the Joint Fund for Securing Career Paths (FPSPP, Fonds paritaire de sécurisation des parcours professionnels) and of training outside working hours (FHTT, formation hors temps de travail), the introduction of a training passport and a "right to guidance", as well as making the DIF (droit individuel à la formation, France's individual training entitlement) portable.

2013:
- New national cross-industry agreement (ANI) for a new economic and social model serving company competitiveness and securing employment and the career paths of employees.
- Creation of the personal training account (CPF)

2014: Stemming from the 2013 agreement, the law of 5 March 2014 on professional training promotes skills development and social dialogue around training. Everything is simplified (procedures and contributions) to enable employers to make professional training a lever for productivity. Employees become active in their own career path, thanks in particular to the personal training account (CPF). They can request training at any time and be guided in their career progression by a professional development guidance provider (CEP, conseil en évolution professionnelle).

2016: The law of 8 August 2016, known as the "Labour Act". This law is not a reform of training but a genuine training component that builds on the law of 5 March 2014. It comprises two main types of element:

• Elements securing, protecting and individualising rights and access to continuing professional training: Creation of the Personal Activity Account (CPA, compte personnel d'activité) made up initially of three accounts, including the CPF (open to the self-employed since 1 January 2018), the Occupational Prevention Account (C2P, compte professionnel de prévention) and the new civic engagement account (CEC, compte d'engagement citoyen); Strengthening of the CEP and of training organisations' obligation to provide information.
• Elements of flexibility building on what already existed regarding work-study programmes and the VAE, deepening certain notions:
  - A strengthening of skills blocks;
  - Possibilities to adapt training.

2018: The "Freedom to choose one's professional future" Act. This reform is the fourth in 14 years and comprises three components:

- A reform of training to open up new lifelong qualification rights to everyone,

- A reform of work-study programmes to overhaul the scheme,

- A reform of unemployment insurance to strengthen job security.

2019:
- The CPF will now be credited in euros rather than in hours.
- The skills operators known as OPCO (opérateurs de compétences) replace the OPCA.
- Launch of the CPF app, making it possible to digitalise the selection and payment of training.
- Selection of the Professional Development Advisers (CEP) by France Compétences (France's national skills authority).

2020:
- Apprenticeship contracts are now funded and managed by the OPCO.
- Management of the CPF app is entrusted to the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC, France's public deposits and investments fund).
- The CPF is managed by the CPIR (commissions paritaires interprofessionnelles régionales, France's regional joint cross-industry committees).

2021 (December): compliance of CFA (centres de formation d'apprentis, France's apprentice training centres) with the rules governing how they operate.

2022: End of DataDock and of the validity of Cnefop-type certifications. In order to benefit from training funds, training organisations will need to obtain Qualiopi certification (France's training quality certification) issued by bodies accredited by France Compétences or by the Cofrac (France's accreditation committee).

2023: Strengthening the fight against CPF fraudFaced with a surge in abuse (aggressive cold-calling, fictitious training), new measures were introduced to protect CPF holders and tighten controls on training organisations. The pressure on Qualiopi is intensifying as a quality filter.

2024: Introduction of the CPF co-paymentFrom 2 May 2024, any use of the CPF is subject to a compulsory flat-rate contribution of €100 payable by the holder, unless covered by the employer, the OPCO or Pôle emploi. The aim: to make users more accountable and curb opportunistic training.

At the same time, training organisations listed on MonCompteFormation must now carry out at least 20% of their turnover on the platform themselves (a limit on subcontracting).

2025: Restriction of training eligible for the CPFSince 16 February 2025, only training leading to an RNCP (Répertoire National des Certifications Professionnelles, France's national register of professional certifications) certification or registered on the Répertoire Spécifique (France's specific register) is eligible for the CPF. Business-creation training is excluded. In addition, the training tax credit for company directors is abolished.

On the work-study side, an important reform comes into force on 1 July 2025: a compulsory employer contribution of €750 for apprenticeship contracts at Bac+3 level and above, and a 20% reduction in funding for training delivered more than 80% remotely.

2026: CPF adjustments and a new retraining schemeThe CPF co-payment is revised to €103.20 (indexed to inflation). A new cap applies to Répertoire Spécifique training: €1,500 of maximum funding. A new retraining scheme officially replaces the Pro-A, stemming from the law transposing the ANI of 24 October 2025.

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Chapter III

Professional training: a new legal framework

The reform of the CPF (Compte Personnel de Formation, France's individual training account), the overhaul of the funding system, the new coordination between stakeholders, the creation or revision of schemes: there have been many changes in the training landscape since the Act of 5 September 2018.

The Act of 5 September 2018 on the freedom to choose one's professional future is the most far-reaching reform French professional training has seen in decades. With the CPF converted into a monetary entitlement, the OPCA (joint accredited collecting bodies) turned into OPCO (skills operators), Qualiopi (France's mandatory quality certification for training providers) rolled out across the board, and France Compétences (the French national authority overseeing training and apprenticeships) created, it has fundamentally reshaped the entire system. This chapter sets out its main provisions and their concrete effects on companies and the working population.

The aims of the "Avenir Professionnel" Act

To support and encourage career development throughout working life. To make training a lever for company competitiveness. To remove the barriers and make access to training more flexible. The aims of the "Avenir professionnel" Act (the French "Professional Future" Act) are many.

But to achieve them, there is only one way: to thoroughly modernise the world of training so as to make it more effective and more relevant to the challenges of tomorrow's society.

The new definition of a training action

One of the priorities of the Act on the freedom to choose one's professional future is to simplify access to schemes for developing and assessing skills.

To support this ambition, it therefore introduced a new definition of the training action, which is now characterised as "a learning pathway designed to achieve a professional objective".

Article L6313-2 of the Code du travail (the French Labour Code) also provides details on how training actions are to be set up and states that these may be delivered in person, remotely (e-learning) or in a work situation (AFEST, the French scheme for workplace-based training).

The aims of training actions, meanwhile, are defined by Article L6313-3. In particular, they must:

• enable people without qualifications or an employment contract to access better employment conditions
• foster career development and job retention
• reduce the risk of workers holding unsuitable qualifications
• support career mobility

This new legal definition therefore opens up access to a wider range of training, in line with the needs and constraints of beneficiaries and companies.

Qualiopi, the key credential for professional training providers

There is no doubting the richness of the training market in France. However, this diversity also makes it hard for beneficiaries and companies to gauge the real quality of the training on offer.

The "Avenir professionnel" Act therefore introduced a quality requirement for training providers in order to standardise practices in supporting skills development.

To this end, and as proof of training quality, Qualiopi certification became mandatory from 1 January 2022. Providers must therefore offer learning pathways that comply with the Référentiel National Qualité (France's National Quality Framework) in order to access public or pooled funds.

Enhanced career development guidance

Already present in the careers guidance sector since 2014, the CÉP (Conseil en Évolution Professionnelle, France's free career development guidance scheme) was also amended and its scope broadened by the Act of 5 September 2018.

Indeed, since January 2020, private-sector employees and self-employed workers have benefited from the support of regional operators appointed by France Compétences to build their career plans.

These new operators therefore reinforce the career development guidance mission carried out across the country by Pôle emploi (the former French public employment service), local employment missions, the Apec and Cap Emploi.

These new provisions do not change how the CÉP works, since it remains free and tailored, whatever the beneficiary's status.

The widening of the target audience, on the other hand, gives this tool a new dimension: it is now part of companies' training strategy and must be brought to employees' attention during the professional review interview.

France Compétences at the heart of the new legal framework for professional training

With a view to simplifying how the system is organised, the training reform created a new institution responsible for steering training: France Compétences.

The remits (7) of this national authority are wide-ranging and notably aim to:

• organise and fund the CÉP
• establish and guarantee the relevance of professional certifications
• distribute all the funds for professional training and apprenticeships (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, OPCO, the State, training insurance funds, etc.)
• regulate the quality of training actions
• regulate the costs and funding rules of public funders
• contribute to public debate

This single body therefore plays a central role and pursues several objectives, such as strengthening the effectiveness of the training system and promoting skills development.

URSSAF, the new collector of the single professional training contribution

To optimise training funding, the Act introduced in 2019 a single contribution to professional training and work-study schemes (CUFPA). At present, this is paid to the skills operators.

Since 2022, this collection has been transferred to URSSAF (France's social security contribution collection agency) and the MSA (the French agricultural social insurance scheme), which are now the bodies responsible for passing the funds on to France Compétences.

The skills operators

With the roll-out of the training reform, the OPCA (organismes paritaires collecteurs agréés, the former joint accredited collecting bodies), which initially acted as collectors of training funds, became skills operators (OPCO), thereby taking on a support role.

This shift responds to the need to support and assist professional branches in delivering training.

To this end, the Act of 5 September 2018 set out the new remits of the skills operators :

• ensure the development and funding of work-study schemes
• roll out a local service for very small businesses and SMEs
• provide information on professional training to employees and companies
• offer technical support as part of forward-looking management of jobs and skills (GPEC, the French framework for strategic workforce planning)
• support branches in their certification mission
• fund top-up payments
• help companies define their training needs

Furthermore, the Act rethought the organisation of professional branches. As a result, 11 skills operators now replace the 20 OPCA, depending on the sector. (6)

The regional joint inter-professional commissions replace the Fongecif

Another new player in the professional training landscape: the regional joint inter-professional commissions (CPIR). Brought in to replace the Fongecif (the former French regional bodies funding individual training leave), these are managed in each region through the Transitions Pro associations (ATpro).

These institutions are then responsible for:

• organising, monitoring, validating and handling the funding of professional transition projects (PTP)
• reviewing the retraining plans of employees applying for the resignation scheme
• rolling out the career development guidance service
• analysing the labour market
• delivering the CléA certification (France's core knowledge and skills certificate)

This close presence on the ground also enables the Transitions Pro associations to play a key role in skills development in each region.

The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations manages the CPF

Since 1 January 2020, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC, France's public financial institution) has been designated as the technical and financial manager of the individual training account.

As part of its mission, it receives the share of the contribution intended to fund the CPF and is responsible for crediting each holder's account in line with the entitlements they have built up. Likewise, the CDC handles the signing of agreements with the funders of top-up payments (OPCO, regions, companies, training insurance funds, etc.).

It also holds a mandate from the Ministry of Labour to administer the application MonCompteFormation, the development of which it took on, and thereby ensures:

• the running of the platform, on both the user and training provider sides;
• the management of accounts and of the training catalogue;
• payment to training providers;
• support for all users.

Lastly, the CDC is also committed to promoting and developing professional training within our economic model.

Monetisation, digitalisation and subscriptions: the revolutions of the individual training account

Since the Act on the freedom to choose one's professional future, the individual training account has undergone major changes.

Indeed, the first step was that the CPF was converted into a monetary entitlement. From an annual credit measured in hours, it switched to funding in euros from 1 January 2019.

Then, as a second step, the online platform MonCompteFormation, which we mentioned a little earlier, went live, giving all users access to a training catalogue.

Beyond this "marketplace" aspect, the application gives every member of the working population the ability to:

• easily view and manage their entitlements;
• enrol on a training pathway without an intermediary stepping in;
• receive a top-up payment if the CPF balance is not enough to cover the course costs.

This transformation of the individual training account marks a major revolution, since it meets the ambition of placing each individual at the centre of their career path.

New ways into continuing professional training

In order to enable everyone to train throughout their working life, the training reform also opened up new ways into professional training. To do so, it amended existing schemes and created new ones, better suited to the current realities of the labour market.

The skills development plan, a new tool for in-company training

Since 1 January 2019, the plan de développement des compétences (PDC, France's company skills development plan) has replaced companies' training plan.

This document lists all the training actions that can be carried out on the employer's initiative or requested by employees. It is therefore a valuable tool for the HR teams responsible for managing staff training on the one hand, while serving as a lever for access to in-company training for employees on the other.

That said, it is worth knowing that, while drawing up a skills development plan is advisable, it is not mandatory. Likewise, the pooled funds of the OPCO are reserved for funding the PDC of companies with fewer than 50 employees.

The professional transition project (transition CPF) in place of the CIF

The PTP is a scheme introduced in 2019 to replace the CIF (Congé Individuel de Formation, France's former individual training leave). Also known as the transition CPF, it is in fact another way of drawing on the individual training account.

Reserved for private-sector employees, it allows any worker to leave their job temporarily in order to follow a certifying training course while having their pay covered.

To be eligible, applicants must demonstrate a length of service defined according to their status (permanent contract, fixed-term contract, temporary worker or entertainment industry casual worker) and put together a case file with their regional Transitions Pro office, which is responsible for managing PTPs.

The professionalisation period is replaced by PRO-A, retraining or promotion through work-study

Since 1 January 2019, the professionalisation period has been replaced by PRO-A, which is aimed at employees whose level of education is below a bachelor's degree.

It is another way into in-company training, the aim of which is to enable career development, retraining or promotion through work-study schemes.

With this scheme, the beneficiary alternates between periods of theoretical training and immersion in a professional setting. The aim is to obtain a diploma, a professional title or a professional qualification certificate.

PRO-A can be set in motion on the initiative of the employee or the company, and its implementation must be the subject of an amendment to the employment contract.

Please note: PRO-A has been replaced by a new retraining scheme since 2026, stemming from the Act transposing the national inter-professional agreements of 24 October 2025.

The apprenticeship reform

The training reform also aims to give value to apprenticeships. To this end, several changes were made to simplify the running of apprenticeship contracts:

• apprenticeships are now open to young people up to the age of 29 inclusive;
• the minimum length of the contract is reduced to 6 months and can be adjusted by means of a tripartite agreement signed by the apprentice, the company and the CFA (the French apprentice training centre);
• setting up the contract is made easier (entry into training throughout the year, a possible exemption to adjust the length of working time, simplified termination of the contract, international mobility, etc.);
• the professional skills requirements for the apprenticeship supervisor are set by the branches or by regulation;
• the funding of apprenticeship contracts has been managed by the OPCO since 1 January 2020.

Lastly, this reform also raised the pay of employees on apprenticeship contracts (Article D6222-26 of the Code du travail) on the one hand, and granted a single grant for the benefit of employers of apprentices (Article III of Decree no. 2018-1348 of 28 December 2018) on the other.

In this way, all these reforms aim to make apprenticeships more attractive to young people and companies, but also to ensure the passing on of know-how in the labour market.

The professional training reform: heading "towards a new skills-based society"

Several years after it came into force, the 2018 reform has delivered on part of its promises: the CPF has democratised access to training, Qualiopi has cleaned up an overly uneven market, and the OPCO have brought schemes closer to the professional branches. But the successive adjustments (the CPF co-payment, the tightening of eligible training, the work-study reform) show that the system keeps evolving. Professional training remains a work in progress, moving in step with the changes in the labour market.

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Chapter IV

Who is entitled to professional training?

Professional training is open to the entire working population: employees, jobseekers, self-employed workers and public-sector staff. Each status opens up specific rights and different funding routes, but the principle is the same: everyone can access training throughout their working life.

Private-sector employees can train at their employer's initiative (as part of the plan de développement des compétences, the company's skills development plan) or on their own initiative (via the CPF, France's individual training account; the PTP, the career transition project; or Pro-A, the work-study upskilling scheme). The employer is also under a legal obligation to ensure employees can adapt to their role and to maintain their employability.

Jobseekers can draw on the CPF rights they built up during previous activity, and benefit from specific schemes funded by France Travail (the French public employment service) or the regions to help them return to work.

Self-employed workers and company directors access training via their CPF and the Fonds d'Assurance Formation (FAF, sector-specific training funds) particular to their field.

Public-sector staff have a CPF credited in hours (rather than in euros), along with specific schemes such as training leave.

Can you train in a field different from your current job?

Yes, without restriction. An employee can ask to follow training in a field entirely different from the one they work in, whether to retrain, acquire new skills or prepare for a career move.

Using the CPF for this purpose is the employee's own initiative. If the employer does not wish to fund this training, the employee can draw on their CPF rights without the employer's agreement, and a refusal does not constitute misconduct.

The deadlines to observe for a training request

When an employee wishes to follow training during working hours, they must inform their employer within the following timeframes:

• 60 days before the start for training lasting less than 6 months
• 120 days before the start for training lasting 6 months or more

The employer then has 30 calendar days to reply. If there is no reply within this period, the request is deemed to be accepted.

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Chapter V

Advantages and disadvantages of professional training

Professional training is both a legal obligation and a lever for performance. But like any investment, it has its conditions for success, and its limits when it is poorly designed.

For the company

The benefits are real and documented. 72% of frontline workers say a training offer can persuade them to join a company (IFOP x Beedeez 2024). Even before talking about skills, training is an argument for attractiveness and retention.

In practical terms, a well-built training policy makes it possible to:

• Develop skills and keep teams up to standard as the market evolves
• Boost engagement and reduce turnover: training your employees signals that you are investing in their future
• Strengthen team cohesion, particularly for geographically dispersed frontline teams
• Improve the employer brand and attract new talent
• Increase productivity and collective performance
• Gain a competitive edge in sectors where know-how makes the difference

The limits exist too. The cost of in-person training can be significant for an SME: tying up the trainer, logistics, lost working time. Training that is poorly targeted or ill-suited to the actual role creates more confusion than it resolves. And taking employees away from their post to train them always carries an operational cost.

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For the learner

To train is to take back control of your career path. The benefits are both immediate and long-term:

• Update your skills and stay relevant in your job
• Build your confidence and autonomy
• Open up opportunities for internal progression or retraining
• Develop your ability to adapt to change rather than merely endure it

But for frontline teams in particular, accessing training is not straightforward. Lack of time is the most frequently cited barrier: 54% of frontline workers have already given up on training for want of availability (IFOP x Beedeez 2024). Irregular hours, the absence of a fixed workstation and the impossibility of travelling to an in-person session are structural obstacles, not a lack of motivation.

This is precisely why the format matters as much as the content. Training that is well designed for the real-world constraints of its learners radically changes engagement rates and results.

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Chapter VI

What funding schemes are available for the professional training of employees?

Lifelong learning is an integral part of working life.

For employees, it serves as a way to build their career path, to progress and to broaden their skills. For employers, it acts first as a performance lever that helps raise the qualification level of the workforce, and then as a valuable tool for retaining staff.

That said, the ways to deliver and, above all, to fund it can seem complex given the many schemes that exist.

The funding of professional training rests on an ecosystem of bodies and schemes that may look complicated at first glance. This chapter unpacks it: who funds what, how the money flows, and which levers are available depending on your situation.

Funding professional training: how does it work?

To properly understand how the various funding schemes for people active in the labour market are set in motion, it is worth first looking at how the funding system for professional training works.

Who funds the professional training of employees?

To begin with, it is worth recalling that it is employers who are legally required to contribute to the development of the skills of their staff.

So, beyond the training activities they fund directly for their own employees, they also contribute to funding the continuing training of private-sector employees and of jobseekers through various levies.

The most significant of these is the contribution unique à la formation professionnelle et à l'alternance (single levy for professional training and work-study schemes in the French system). Also known as the CUFPA, it is this single levy that mainly underpins France's training funding system.

Employers may, however, also be liable for other supplementary levies, such as the contribution CPF-CDD (an additional levy on fixed-term contracts in the French system) or the contribution conventionnelle à la formation (a training levy set by sector-wide collective agreements in France).

How does the single levy fund training?

Introduced in 2019, the single levy brings together two distinct strands. These are the contribution à la formation professionnelle (the professional training levy) on the one hand, and the taxe d'apprentissage (the French apprenticeship tax) on the other.

Calculated according to headcount, the CUFPA has been collected by Urssaf and the MSA (the French social-security and agricultural-sector collection agencies) since 2022, which pass the funds on to France Compétences for redistribution.

Once collected, the CUFPA is then transferred to France Compétences, the national governance body for professional training and work-study in France. It is this operator that is then responsible for redistributing the funds to the various training bodies and institutions.

In line with article L6123-5 of the Code du travail (the French Labour Code), France Compétences allocates the funds in particular to:

• the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (the French state deposits and investments fund) in order to finance the compte personnel de formation ;
• the opérateurs de compétences (OPCOs, the French sector-based skills operators) to support skills development within companies of fewer than 50 employees and to promote work-study schemes ;
• the fonds d'assurance formation (FAF, French training insurance funds) responsible for funding the training of self-employed workers ;
• the State, which supports the training of jobseekers ;
• the regional cross-sector joint committees ;
• the bodies that provide career development guidance (the conseil en évolution professionnelle, CÉP) ;
• the regions ;
• the body responsible for paying the driving-licence grant.

This is how each body then steers the delivery of the various funding schemes available to people in work.

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The compte personnel de formation (CPF), the main funding lever for professional training

In force since January 2015, the compte personnel de formation (CPF, the personal training account in the French system) is one of the main schemes for funding professional training.

The CPF: what are the benefits?

The CPF's first strength is its accessibility. It is an individual right attached to the person, not to the employment contract, throughout their working life. As a result, it is open to everyone: employees, public-sector staff, the self-employed and, in certain cases, retirees.

What is more, this ease of access was reinforced by the "Avenir professionnel" law (the French "Freedom to choose one's professional future" act) which, in November 2019, enabled the launch of the MonCompteFormation platform. The aim was to let every worker take ownership of their career path and draw on their accumulated funds entirely independently, according to their needs.

Another advantage of the personal training account? The range of training activities it covers, for example:

• a skills assessment (bilan de compétences) or the validation des acquis de l'expérience (VAE, the French accreditation of prior experiential learning) ;
• obtaining a diploma or a professional qualification ;
• acquiring a core set of skills and knowledge

Please note: since 16 February 2025, only training leading to an RNCP certification (the French national register of professional certifications) or listed on the Répertoire Spécifique (the French specific register of certifications) is eligible for the CPF. Training for business creation or takeover has been excluded from the scheme.2026 update: the PRO-A is being replaced by a new redeployment scheme from 2026, arising from the law transposing the national cross-sector agreements of 24 October 2025. The arrangements remain broadly similar, with a stronger emphasis on job retention.

How the CPF works

Since 2019, the CPF has been topped up each year in euros for the following beneficiaries:

• private-sector employees and the self-employed, at a rate of 500 € per year worked, capped at 5000 € ;
• low-qualified employees or those covered by the disabled-employment obligation, at a rate of 800 € per year worked, capped at 8000 €.

The credit in euros therefore does not apply to public-sector staff, who continue to accrue their entitlement in hours. Likewise, while jobseekers can still draw on the rights they have accrued in order to take a course, the account is no longer credited as long as they are out of contract.

Furthermore, if the available rights are not enough:

• a top-up from another body, for example the OPCO (the French skills operator) or Transitions Pro (the French inter-professional bodies handling career transitions) under the CPF de transition, is conditional on the CPF being released
• employer co-funding has been possible since September 2020

As a result, the CPF stands out as the first funding scheme to draw on when covering the cost of a training pathway.

New: a decree of 29 April 2024 sets out new requirements for using the CPF as of 2 May 2024. A compulsory flat-rate contribution of 100 € now applies to anyone wishing to use their personal training account.

What other schemes are available to fund the professional training of employees?

In addition to the CPF, private-sector employees have access to other ways to fund a continuing-training project. What are these schemes? And how do they work?

The plan de développement des compétences

Employers are legally required to keep their staff in employment and to adapt workstations. On top of these obligations, they may also offer their staff continuing professional training activities.

To do so, they have had a new tool since 2019: the plan de développement des compétences (the French skills development plan).

This sets out all the training that is either mandatory (health and safety, knowledge updates, and so on) or optional (skills assessments, VAE, and so on).

So, any training provided for under the skills development plan can be carried out at the employer's initiative or at the employee's.

In both cases, it is also worth knowing that:

• the employee's pay is maintained for the entire duration of the training
• the tuition costs and ancillary costs (catering and accommodation) are covered by the employer
• the training takes place during working hours, except for specific arrangements made for optional training

After the training programme, the employee can return to their post or move on to other responsibilities. They may also choose to leave the company, subject to any repayment clause provided for in their employment contract.

Redeployment or promotion through work-study (PRO-A), a new continuing professional training scheme

The PRO-A (the French reconversion-or-promotion-through-work-study scheme) is another major change brought in by the act on the freedom to choose one's professional future. Replacing the former professionalisation period, this tool is designed to encourage and support career progression projects, promotion or redeployment for the least-qualified employees.

The idea is to let employees train and acquire skills by alternating classroom learning with work activities. During this period, the PRO-A employee also receives professional support, since a mentor is appointed by the company to guide them throughout their training (between 6 and 12 months, and up to 24 months in certain cases).

Like the previous scheme, redeployment or promotion through work-study can be initiated at the employer's request or on the employee's own initiative. Likewise, it can be carried out during working hours or outside them with the beneficiary's agreement.

For training carried out under the PRO-A:

• pay is maintained by the company if the training takes place during working hours
• the training costs are covered, in part or in full, by the company's skills operator (OPCO)

The PRO-A thus stands out as a genuine lever for developing professional skills and boosting employability in the labour market.

2026 update: the PRO-A is being replaced by a new redeployment scheme from 2026, arising from the law transposing the national cross-sector agreements of 24 October 2025. The arrangements remain broadly similar, with a stronger emphasis on job retention.

The projet de transition professionnelle for funding a career change

Since 2019, it is the projet de transition professionnelle (PTP, the French career-transition project, or CPF de transition) that allows employees to take time away from their company to follow a course with a view to changing career.

Open to employees on permanent (CDI) and fixed-term (CDD) contracts, as well as to temporary agency workers, the PTP is steered by the regional cross-sector joint committees (CPIR) through the Transitions Pro associations: Transitions Pro.

While the length-of-service requirements vary depending on status, the criteria for assessing applications do not change. In particular, the training project must:

• make it possible to change occupation or profession ;
• offer genuine employment prospects on completion of the training.

Furthermore, the planned training must be qualification-bearing, eligible for the CPF and listed on the RNCP.

The employee wishing to use the CPF de transition must also apply to their company for leave of absence.

This request must be submitted no later than 60 days before the start of the training if it lasts less than six months. This period is 120 days if the training lasts six months or more.

For their part, the employer has 30 days to respond. Failing that, the leave of absence is deemed to be granted.

In practice, the company cannot refuse a PTP leave request made by an employee. It can, however, decide to postpone it by up to 9 months if the absence risks disrupting the smooth running of the business, for example because several staff would be away at the same time.

Finally, once the PTP application is accepted and the employee starts their training, their pay is covered by Transitions Pro, according to various scales and arrangements specific to the size of the company. Under certain conditions, the CPIR can also cover the tuition costs, as well as the additional expenses linked to the training.

TransCo, a new career-transition scheme

Transitions collectives, also known as TransCo (the French collective-transition scheme), is a funding scheme launched in 2021 to support collective redeployment in companies where certain roles are made vulnerable by economic or technological change.

The scheme is therefore designed to support companies in helping employees whose jobs are under threat to change career. To do so, employers must follow three steps:

• identify the at-risk roles within the company, with the help of the OPCO if needed, and formalise the list of these roles through a GEPP-type agreement (the French strategic workforce planning framework) ;
• inform employees of their eligibility for TransCo ;
• submit an application to the regional Transitions Pro operator.

For the employees concerned who take part in the TransCo scheme, pay and training costs are funded by the State via the Fonds National pour l'Emploi (FNE, the French National Employment Fund).

However, the proportion of this funding varies according to the size of the company:

• 100% with nothing payable by companies of fewer than 300 employees ;
• 75%, with 25% payable, for companies whose payroll covers between 300 and 1,000 employees ;
• 40%, with 60% payable, for companies of more than 1,000 employees.

Thanks to this scheme, employees can therefore follow a long training pathway or an accreditation of prior experiential learning (VAE) without drawing on their CPF.

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The funding system for professional training is dense, but it was designed so that no one is left without a solution. Employee, self-employed worker, jobseeker, employer: there is a scheme suited to every situation. The challenge is not so much knowing every mechanism in detail as knowing which lever to turn to first, and how to combine them to fund an ambitious training project.

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Chapter VII

The personal training account makes it easier to access professional training

The compte personnel de formation (CPF), France's personal training account, is today the best-known scheme in professional training: 85% of working people have heard of it. But there is a gap between knowing about it and knowing how to use it, as 52% of working people still feel poorly informed about how it works.

Since it was overhauled by the 2018 loi Avenir professionnel (the French "Professional Future" Act): monetisation in euros, the launch of MonCompteFormation, and extension to new audiences, the CPF has become the main individual lever for accessing training. It has, however, undergone significant adjustments in recent years, in particular the introduction of a co-payment in 2024 and the restriction of eligible courses in 2025.

This chapter sets out how it works, the rules for crediting it depending on a person's status, and the training it can fund.

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What is the CPF, the personal training account

The compte personnel de formation is an individual tool dedicated to career development.

It allows people active in the labour market to acquire, accumulate and draw on training entitlements throughout their working life, even if their circumstances change. Indeed, as its name suggests, it is a "personal" account attached to the individual rather than to an employment contract.

Introduced into the labour and training market in 2015 to replace the DIF (the previous French individual training right), the scheme was recently amended by the loi Avenir professionnel of 5 September 2018. This was done to broaden the scope of the CPF so that it could genuinely allow everyone to be an active participant in their own training and in shaping their career path.

What are the objectives of the CPF?

According to the definition given by the French Ministry of Labour (ministère du Travail), the personal training account aims to "contribute, on the person's own initiative, to maintaining employability and securing the career path." It is to meet these aims that the CPF allows all working people to access a catalogue of qualifying courses through the MonCompteFormation digital app. Every listed course can then be funded directly, without the need to go through an intermediary.

Who are the beneficiaries of the personal training account?

In keeping with its goal of reducing inequalities in access to training, the CPF is intended to be universal. As a result, it is a scheme aimed at all working people present in the labour market.

It should be noted, however, that this opening up to all socio-occupational categories happened in several stages.

Private-sector employees and jobseekers were the first to have a personal training account. After that, public-sector employees benefited from it in 2017, followed by self-employed workers and author-artists in 2018.

The CPF is opened automatically from the age of 16, or 15 by way of exception for young people in apprenticeships. Finally, although it is in principle closed on retirement, retired people can have their personal training account reopened when they wish to return to work.

Which courses are eligible for the CPF?

The courses eligible for the CPF are defined by article L6323-6 of the French Labour Code (Code du travail). In practice, these are the following training activities:

• professional certifications recorded in the national register of professional certifications (RNCP);
• validation of a core set of knowledge and skills;
• steps relating to the accreditation of prior experiential learning (VAE);
• skills assessments (bilan de compétences)
• the driving licence.

Note since 16 February 2025: only courses leading to an RNCP certification or one listed in the Répertoire Spécifique (the French specific register of certifications) are eligible. Courses on starting or taking over a business have been excluded from the CPF.

Given the various options available, the courses delivered through the CPF make it possible to obtain a diploma or a professional qualification, or to prepare for a career change.

Furthermore, the length of the course is not a qualifying criterion, since both short and long courses are admissible under the CPF. Likewise, the training can be completed during or outside working hours.

Co-payment since 2 May 2024: any use of the CPF is subject to a flat-rate contribution of 100€ (103.20€ as of 1 January 2026, index-linked to inflation). This contribution is not payable if the employer or the OPCO (the French skills operator) funds the course, or if the holder is a jobseeker.

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Crediting the personal training account: how does it work?

During the first three years of its existence, the personal training account was credited in training hours, in continuity with the scheme it replaced. This is no longer the case today, since from 1 January 2019 it is now euros that are allocated to the CPF each year (with the exception of public-sector employees).

Redistributed by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (the French public financial institution responsible for managing the CPF), the entitlements acquired in one year are available in beneficiaries' accounts the following spring.

For example: an employee on a full-time permanent contract (CDI) from 1 January to 31 December 2023 will see their CPF balance increase over the April-May 2024 period.

That said, while the training account is aimed at everyone, the rules for crediting it depend on a person's status and the amount of work carried out during the year.

The CPF for employees

The CPF of private-sector employees is credited with 500€ per year. The acquired entitlements are capped at 5,000€. For part-time employees whose working time is below 50% of full time, entitlements are calculated on a pro rata basis.

As for low-qualified employees, their CPF is credited with 800€ per year, up to a ceiling of 8,000€. The same applies to people with disabilities working in an ESAT (a French sheltered employment establishment).

The CPF for self-employed workers

Just like that of private-sector employees, the personal training account of self-employed workers is credited with 500€ per year. However, the payment of acquired entitlements is conditional on payment of the professional training contribution (CFP).

Another particularity of this status: while the entitlements in a CPF cannot be transferred, for this category the right to training is also open to the collaborating spouse.

The CPF for jobseekers

As we have seen, the training account is an individual right accessible throughout one's career, even if a person changes employer or loses their job.

People looking for work can therefore use CPF funds to finance a course in order to re-enter the labour market. However, as the CPF is fed by actual professional activity, they do not accumulate new entitlements.

The CPF for public-sector employees

As we saw a little earlier, the monetisation of the personal training account does not apply to public-sector employees. Theirs is therefore credited in training hours rather than in euros.

Employees then receive 25 hours per year, up to a ceiling of 150 hours. As with private-sector staff, low-qualified category C employees benefit from a larger hours allowance. They therefore accumulate 50 hours each year up to 400 hours.

Worth knowing: while the crediting of the CPF is suspended during periods of unemployment, conversely parental leave, carer's leave, workplace accidents and occupational illnesses are taken into account.

For all working people, the CPF therefore works like a savings account designed to support employability and professional mobility. But it is also clear that the ceilings set are a lever to encourage people to commit regularly to continuing training, in order to constantly enrich the labour market with skilled workers.

How do you use your CPF?

To enable access to training for all without an intermediary, beneficiaries with a training plan must go to the MonCompteFormation digital app to use their CPF.

Indeed, since late 2019, it is only on this platform that individuals can view and manage their entitlements, access training offers, and then put together and track their funding application.

This digital solution makes it easier to carry out training plans, since to draw on acquired entitlements you simply need to:

• go to the platform (also available on mobile);
• authenticate yourself using your social security number;
• browse the catalogue of courses;
• put together the application and confirm the release of funds.

Another important point about using the CPF: it is only possible if the holder gives their consent. As a result, an employer cannot require an employee to use the personal training account.

Nevertheless, with the aim of engaging all training stakeholders in enriching career paths, the Act on the freedom to choose one's professional future (loi pour la liberté de choisir son avenir professionnel) introduces a logic of co-building training.

Top-ups to the personal training account

This co-building logic aims to remove the barriers to funding a course where the funds in the personal account are insufficient to make the plan a reality.

As a result, if the cost of a training plan is higher than the balance of the personal training account, workers can make up the amount due using their own means or obtain top-ups (abondements).

Depending on a person's status, these are granted by the following funders:

• the employer;
• the skills operator (OPCO);
• the regions and the State;
• the health insurance fund;
• France Travail (the French public employment service);
• the training insurance funds for self-employed workers;
• the chambers of trades and crafts, etc.

To roll out these "additional credits" for training, the funders must approach the Caisse des dépôts et consignations to set up an agreement and define the terms of access to the top-up.

To benefit from it, the user's situation must therefore meet the defined criteria. If it does, the top-up offer is then automatically presented to them during their purchasing journey on MonCompteFormation.

The CPF, an essential tool serving continuing training

Since 2018, the CPF has profoundly transformed the relationship working people have with training: more autonomy, a catalogue accessible in a few clicks, and entitlements that follow the person whatever their path. The 2024-2025 adjustments (co-payment, restriction of eligible courses) have tightened the scheme to improve its financial sustainability and the quality of the courses funded.

Well understood and well used, the CPF remains one of the most powerful tools a working person has to invest in their own professional development.

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Chapter VIII

What are the functions of professional training within a company?

In a context where training needs are becoming ever more significant, what means does a company have at its disposal to meet them? Who is responsible for implementing professional training within an organisation? And how? This chapter sets out the various roles that shape the training function within a company.

The training function within the company: what is it?

The training function is the department responsible for organising the entire learning strategy aimed at developing employees' skills within a company.

At a time when training activity needs to be more efficient, this function is gradually breaking away from HR departments and now comprises roles dedicated to creating a high-performing training ecosystem for the company.

Training Manager

The training manager is the cornerstone of the training department within a company. Tasked with driving the development of the workforce's skills, their role consists of designing and managing the entire training engineering process. This is a task that involves putting in place the various steps needed to roll out a project aligned with the company's strategic priorities.

To do this, the training manager analyses the needs of the organisation's various roles. And it is by drawing on this overview that they build the training project on the one hand, and then draw up its specifications on the other. Their role is crucial because, according to Empowill, for 23% of employees, the leading motivating factor for starting a training course is that it relates to the challenges of their job (8).

As such, they set about defining the:

• training activities to be implemented;
• learning programme;
• target skills;
• learning methods, means and resources to be mobilised;
• budget allocated to training;
• provisional learning schedule, and so on.

Once the training plan is under way, they oversee the project as a whole, including administrative monitoring, in coordination with trainers, the company's other departments, external training providers, and so on.

At the end of the training, it falls to them to evaluate the impact of the professional training activities carried out. This evaluation focuses in particular on two aspects: on the one hand, whether the objectives set out in the specifications have been met, and on the other, employees' feedback on the training they have undergone.

It is only after carrying out this overall analysis that the manager produces the training review (quality, costs, timescales, results).

The training manager's responsibilities

• Building the skills development plan
• Setting the training budget with the company's leadership
• Analysing and identifying the skills needs of the various departments
• Drawing up the training specifications
• Identifying the means required to implement a training project
• Selecting facilitators and/or training providers
• Overseeing the administrative management of the project in line with the legal and regulatory obligations in force
• Setting up training evaluation and self-assessment systems
• Managing the training department

Digital Learning Manager

Often seen as an evolution of the e-learning manager, the digital learning manager is in fact far more than that. Indeed, unlike their "predecessor", they do not manage e-learning exclusively, but occupy a far more versatile and cross-cutting role within the company's training function.

A genuine project lead in their own right, their mission consists of creating a new approach to internal training by driving the company's training digitalisation projects.

To do this, the digital learning manager operates on several levels. For example, they will carry out in-depth work to analyse professional training trends, discover new methods and identify relevant educational or technological innovations.

In this way, they can first help to define the best digital training strategy for the company, and then get involved at every stage of the production chain of an internal training course: choice of learning methods, tools to be used, content creation, and so on.

Furthermore, they also take part in implementing the project by ensuring:

• coordination between the various stakeholders: instructional designers, e-learning agencies, subject-matter experts, trainers, and so on;
• the steering of the marketing of training activities.

Likewise, they may also take charge of running learning communities.

The digital learning manager builds, embodies, spreads and nurtures the digital culture around training in order to evolve the practices of every part of an organisation. The aim is to make in-company training more appealing, win the buy-in of employees as well as management, and boost their engagement with internal training.

In 2026, the digital learning manager's role is evolving still further with generative AI: part of content production (quizzes, scenarios, short modules) can now be automated, allowing them to focus their expertise on learning strategy and the learner experience.

The digital learning manager's responsibilities

• Project management
• Storyboarding training pathways
• Instructional design
• LMS management
• Monitoring training trends
• Data analysis
• Running communities
• Communicating and promoting a training project

Internal Trainer

The internal trainer is an employee whose mission is to deliver the ongoing professional training of teams. They are therefore responsible for passing on, developing and updating know-how in order to ensure the upskilling of the workforce, in line with the skills development plan.

The trainer has always been involved at various stages of the training, since they:

• draw on their expertise to build the learning programme, in line with the objectives of the professional training project;
• take charge of passing on professional knowledge and skills to learners.

Market changes have caused the role of the trainer to evolve. Nowadays, they adapt their stance so as to be no longer simply a "teacher", but rather a "facilitator" working with learners who take ownership of the training activity.

What is more, the added value of the internal trainer rests on their knowledge of the company, how it works, its procedures and the reality on the ground. They therefore now position themselves as a genuine point of reference for the employees they support, and make a point of bridging the gap with the company's training and HR departments. So, how do you train your frontline teams today as a trainer?

The internal trainer's responsibilities

• Designing the raw learning content
• Facilitating training activities
• Passing on know-how and best practices
• Monitoring and supporting the learners
• Reporting back on training results

Instructional Designer

The instructional designer is an expert in the digital creation of training content. Their role is to carry out the instructional engineering needed to design the best possible learning experience for the learner.

The designer draws on and analyses the raw learning resources provided by trainers or subject-matter experts. They then take charge of translating these into an effective training pathway, in line with the learning methods and educational tools deployed.

To carry out this mission successfully, the instructional designer creates a storyboard. In this way, they sequence and script the training, taking care to tell a story that will capture the attention of the employees to be trained (story-learning).

Next, they look for the relevant digital elements that will allow them to articulate the modules and enrich the training: games, graphics, animations, videos and so on.

The ultimate aim of the instructional designer's work is to create training pathways that are more engaging and interactive than traditional training in order to make the learner want to carry on learning.

The instructional designer's responsibilities

• Making the concepts to be conveyed accessible
• Scripting the learning content
• Technical design of the training modules
• Creating digitalised learning activities
• Choosing the multimedia elements
• Optimising the design and navigation

Workplace Mentor

The workplace mentor is an employee who is involved primarily in the onboarding of a newcomer. They then play the role of a guide, whose mission is to pass on technical know-how, methods and the company's culture in order to get the employee up to speed. Their role is an important one when you consider that 65% of mentored training schemes achieve a completion rate of over 60% (8).

To do this, they take charge in particular of organising and monitoring the training pathway, while liaising with the manager, the teams and senior leadership.

However, although the role is often associated with welcoming and training work-study students or apprentices, in reality the mentor can perfectly well support an employee who is already part of the company. As such, mentoring schemes can be implemented in the case of a career move or where a skills gap has been identified.

The workplace mentor's responsibilities

• Onboarding newcomers
• Preparing the training pathway
• Monitoring and checking the acquisition of skills
• Managing the learning schedule
• Frontline liaison with the training and HR functions

As we saw a little earlier, the training function within a company relies first and foremost on the training manager, who is the conductor of skills management.

Depending on the size of the company, the training department may comprise several other experts in the production of learning content, such as the digital learning manager or the instructional designer, who draw on the company's in-house subject-matter expertise to create the training.

Frontline Manager

In companies with frontline teams, such as retail, hospitality, logistics and industry, the frontline manager is often the first genuine player in training. Before the training manager, before the internal trainer: it is they who spot the gaps day to day, who demonstrate the right actions, who answer questions on the job.

Yet their formal role in training is rarely given the recognition it deserves. They sit at the hinge between HR strategy and the reality on the ground: they know what their teams have not yet mastered, they can make or break the conditions for effective learning, and they are the first link in ensuring that what has been learnt in training is properly applied on the job.

Organisations that bring the frontline manager in as a fully fledged player in their training scheme, with access to progress data, the ability to launch targeted modules, and a role as mentor or peer trainer, see completion rates two to three times higher than those where training is steered solely by HR.

The frontline manager's responsibilities in training:

• Identifying training needs as close to the ground as possible
• Passing on job-specific actions and best practices in real-life situations
• Monitoring employees' progress and chasing up latecomers
• Bridging frontline experience and training content
• Post-training debriefs to embed learning in practice

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Certification of in-company training

Today, professional training within a company stands as a genuine lever for performance. In an ever-changing context, the quality of a learning strategy can therefore become a major differentiator, both with regard to the customer market and to candidates during recruitment.

This is how, in order to address the "quality of learning" challenge, an official certification now sits alongside CSR (corporate social responsibility) labels and those for quality of working life (QVT) such as Great Place to Work®.

Other certifications, such as the AFAQ Ingénierie de formation digitale (a digital training engineering standard from AFNOR, the French standards body), allow companies to showcase their quality approach to digital training, in addition to Qualiopi (the French national quality certification for training providers).

The in-company training function: a player in continuing training

Among the players in professional training, companies have a decisive role to play when it comes to training. Indeed, their closeness to the ground enables them to build training projects that are as closely aligned as possible with the needs of their sector.

They draw on training teams that are increasingly well structured, and on tools that make it possible to design, deploy and measure pathways tailored to each context, including for the employees who are hardest to reach.

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Chapter IX

How can you innovate in training today?

Energising training programmes, supporting skills development and making learning more appealing to learners are some of the new challenges facing professional training.

On top of this comes a timeless ambition: making training more efficient. The goal is for it to become a genuine way of ensuring the upskilling of frontline teams.

This chapter takes stock of the teaching approaches and tools that are reshaping professional training, from the classroom to the smartphone, from social learning to generative AI.

Innovation in the world of professional training

Innovating in training has become an essential strategy for delivering a suitable response to the demands (both current and future) of the learning community on the one hand, and for supporting the transformation of training within the organisation on the other.

That said, the challenge is a sizeable one given how many expectations there are on both sides, as it notably involves:

• anticipating new learning needs;
• removing the barriers to training;
• creating environments conducive to spreading skills;
• capitalising on the know-how that already exists within the organisation;
• strengthening the employer brand;
• boosting learner engagement;
• rethinking instructional design, and so on.

The aim for those involved in training is therefore to learn to reinvent themselves through new teaching approaches, which are themselves driven by technological innovation.

Pedagogical innovation: approaches for learning differently

Social Learning

Social learning is a learning method that makes it possible to roll out interactive, shared teaching by drawing on people's natural inclination towards social relationships.

More concretely, this educational method, also known as peer learning, promotes the sharing of knowledge, interaction and the synergy of a group in order to support skills development.

To do so, learners step outside the classic model (read, listen, watch) and become part of participatory learning in which they can observe, share, imitate and exchange with one another and, as a result, enrich each other.

Unlike the top-down teaching we are all familiar with, where knowledge is passed one way from a teacher to pupils, social learning is a horizontal teaching approach. It therefore places learners at the very heart of the learning process, since everyone is both a learner and a trainer.

Blended Learning

Blended learning is a mixed learning mode that combines in-person training, delivered by a trainer, with remote learning, supported by digital training modules.

The idea is to reduce the organisational constraints of in-person training while keeping its human dimension, which 100% e-learning often lacks, and to enrich it through digital so as to better meet the needs of the learning programme.

In this way, this hybrid educational model is a means of offering learners the support of a trainer to guide them and of maintaining their integration within a learning community.

However, unlike training delivered exclusively in person, this learning approach also allows learners to follow their training programme at their own pace. Engagement therefore tends to grow in a blended learning context, since learners feel they are active participants in their training and find it easier to take ownership of what they learn.

Microlearning

Microlearning is a learning format that aims to break the acquisition of knowledge down into several digital training sequences. Generally lasting from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, the learning content (animations, tests, games, infographics, videos and so on) makes it possible to get straight to the point and learn specific concepts quickly.

One of the reasons for the popularity of microlearning is that it mirrors everyone's everyday habits: searching for, finding and consuming information through short content, whatever the format. It therefore fits easily into professional training.

The advantages of microlearning, also known as micro-learning, are many, since it notably makes it possible to:

• innovate in training by rolling out a playful approach;
• make learners more independent by giving them the chance to choose which skill blocks to follow;
• put new knowledge into practice straight away;
• break free from the constraints of traditional materials, which are usually longer and often less digestible.

By placing the individual at the centre of their training programme, this teaching format aims to make learning easier, support memory retention and consolidate what has been learnt.

A change of teaching method, a new learning mode or the modernisation of formats: the approaches for innovating in training are wide-ranging and varied. However, as we saw a little earlier, this is only the first level of innovation in training.

Indeed, the evolution of learning approaches calls for tools suited to these new educational practices. To this end, numerous technological innovations keep emerging on the training market to support pedagogical innovation.

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Pedagogical innovation: a wide variety of learning tools

Bringing variety to your training helps keep your learners engaged and motivated to keep learning throughout their working life with the organisation.

Mobile Learning

Mobile learning is an innovative training medium aimed at rolling out, as the name suggests, mobile learning so that training is accessible everywhere, all the time and on every device.

It is a new way of learning that is more flexible than traditional training, since learning resources are made available continuously and on demand.

Mobile learning is also a tool for modernising training practices, with the aim of generating learner engagement and buy-in through short formats that are often interactive and playful. In this sense, it is particularly well suited to microlearning pedagogy, but it also fits perfectly with other educational approaches (collaborative or blended learning, for example).

Versatile by nature, it can come into play at different stages of the journey to prepare for a course, consolidate skills, revise knowledge already covered or stimulate exchanges between learners.

In keeping with the new trends in training and the expectations of the people being trained, mobile learning is a pedagogical innovation that needs to fit into a broader training strategy in order to strengthen it.

Worth noting: contrary to what one might think, "mobile" does not mean "mobile phone" but rather "mobility". Indeed, the study carried out jointly in 2020 by MyRHline and Beedeez shows that 74% of learners use mobile learning on a PC compared with 50% on a smartphone.

For frontline teams (sales staff, technicians, logistics workers, drivers), mobile learning is not just one option among many: it is the very condition for training to exist at all. With no desk, no fixed computer and irregular hours, the only format that fits their reality is the one that fits in their pocket.

LMS, Learning Management System

The LMS, or Learning Management System, is a software platform that makes it possible to centralise and manage online training, or e-learning. It is the first tool organisations turn to in order to digitalise training and learning programmes.

Thanks to its features, the LMS addresses the main challenges of managing professional training online, namely delivering and steering learning.

Because, beyond the acquisition of knowledge by the target audience, the LMS allows trainers to track participants' progress precisely: performance, difficulties, contributions and so on. This is done with a view to monitoring learners' progress, but also to improving and enriching content according to the objectives of the teaching being delivered.

Traditionally established in the field of corporate training, the LMS has been able to adapt to the growth of pedagogical and technical innovation in training, since it can now incorporate other learning approaches.

LXP, Learning Experience Platform

It is in response to these new behaviours that another type of training platform has taken its place in the learning landscape: the LXP, or Learning Experience Platform.

It is a technology that, unlike the LMS (which is geared more towards "supervision"), aims to create a learning ecosystem where teaching is centred on the learner's experience.

Whether standalone or integrated, the LXP platform therefore complements the learning journey provided by the LMS. To do so, it draws in particular on adaptive learning (which we will discuss a little further down) to offer a training programme tailored to the individual, based on their profile and their interactions with the available content.

Often more intuitive and geared towards the learning community, the LXP stands out as the answer to the challenges of a training personalisation strategy.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are innovative training solutions that make it possible to move beyond traditional theoretical teaching in order to learn differently. Indeed, they are among the tools of what is known as immersive learning, or learning through immersion.

Used in the context of professional training, they serve in particular to develop the acquisition of skills through practice. So, while they are often deployed in fields such as industry, aviation or healthcare, they can be adapted to any training project:

• developing soft skills;
• raising awareness and prevention;
• simulating complex practices;
• preparing teams to handle emergency situations, and so on.

However, although virtual reality and augmented reality are often confused, they are in fact two different technologies:

• virtual reality creates entirely fictional environments by means of a VR headset and thus offers a 360° immersive experience
• augmented reality overlays virtual elements, visible using a digital screen (smartphone, tablet or glasses), onto the real environment

Whatever the application, these tools enrich learning approaches and also serve as excellent media for the gamification of training programmes.

Virtual classroom

The virtual classroom is a teaching tool used to deliver remote training. The idea is to bring the trainer and the learners together synchronously, without each person's geographical location being a constraint.

While this teaching approach borrows certain codes from in-person sessions, in reality it is not enough simply to transpose a "traditional" course behind a screen to run a virtual classroom.

Firstly, because its effectiveness rests on other features specific to running a class remotely. As such, this kind of rollout means rethinking the programme as a whole, namely:

• the teaching flow;
• the learning pace;
• the scripting of the courses;
• the design of the materials;
• the means of monitoring and supporting participants;
• the rollout of digital tools useful for running the virtual classroom and managing online exchanges, and so on.

But also, and above all, because the virtual classroom meets the learning community's need to be together at the same moment in order to talk and work.

So the virtual classroom cannot be a lecture where information flows in only one direction. On the contrary, to be effective it must rely on interactivity between the trainer and the learners themselves.

Adaptive Learning

Adaptive learning is an educational means aimed at personalising the learner's journey. It draws in particular on artificial intelligence to pinpoint individual needs and train each person according to their profile, their existing knowledge, the difficulties detected and their ability to learn.

To do this, adaptive learning rests on three variable components:

• appearance, which corresponds to the formats of the content presented;
• order, which defines how the training is structured according to the pace of progress (how and when the various modules are rolled out);
• support, which refers to the actions taken to help the learner overcome obstacles and lead them towards success.

Most often, the adaptive learning journey is kicked off by an initial placement test. Based on the results, the algorithm then offers a different curriculum to each learner. After that, the collection of data allows it to analyse how well the concepts covered have been assimilated, the rate of progress, the mistakes made and/or repeated, the areas to work on, and so on.

Increasingly popular, this ultra-personalised approach makes it possible to optimise and accelerate upskilling since it focuses on the objectives set, and updated in real time, for each learner.

Generative AI in training

Generative artificial intelligence is reshaping the production chain for training content. What used to take weeks (designing a module, writing quizzes, producing role-play scenarios) can now be done in a few hours from a business brief.

For Learning & Development teams, this concretely changes their relationship with time and resources. A product launch tomorrow morning? The module can be ready today. A procedure updated this evening? The content is refreshed before opening time.

Beyond production, generative AI is beginning to make its way into the learner experience itself: teaching assistants able to answer questions in real time, personalised content recommendations, and analysis of learning behaviours to identify collective gaps ahead of a session.

AI does not replace teaching expertise; it accelerates and multiplies it.

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Beedeez: innovating for teams without a desk

Most training innovations were designed for employees sitting behind a screen. Beedeez starts from a different premise: frontline teams (sales staff, technicians, logistics workers) have the same upskilling needs, but radically different constraints.

The platform combines Mobile Learning, Social Learning and Adaptive Learning in an interface designed to be used between two customers, before a shop opening, or from a worksite. Content is created in a few minutes from a collaborative back-office. Managers track their teams' progress in real time. Gamification campaigns keep engagement going over the long term.

All of this is available in more than 25 languages, for teams in Lyon, Madrid or São Paulo alike.

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Innovating in training: an essential investment

Training in a different way. Developing learners' independence. Bringing a more human dimension to learning. Optimising training time. Managing costs better. While in-person training has not had its last word, innovation in training is nonetheless essential.

Innovating in training is not about stacking up tools. It is about choosing the right formats for the right objectives, combining them coherently, and making sure that learners (including the hardest to reach) can genuinely benefit from them. Technology makes this possible. Pedagogy makes it effective. But while there are many learning approaches and teaching tools, innovating in training does not stop at choosing one educational technique over another, or putting one technological setup in place instead of another.

Today, these innovations can be brought together with one another. The priority when rethinking a training model is therefore to think things through as a whole. This is so that the resources deployed precisely meet the objectives of a teaching project, as well as employees' expectations when it comes to the learning experience.

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Chapter X

Training frontline teams: a blind spot in vocational training

Frontline teams (shop-floor sales staff, technicians, logistics workers, drivers, carers) make up an essential part of the French economy. They are also the great forgotten of vocational training.

What the figures reveal

Two studies carried out by Beedeez in partnership with IFOP paint a clear picture:

What it really costs

A lack of training does not go without consequences: 52% of frontline workers do not fully understand what is being asked of them, and 16% understand neither the what nor the why (IFOP x Beedeez 2026). The biggest barrier is not a lack of skills (20%), it is the lack of time (53%) and unsuitable tools.

When you train people well, it changes everything

72% of frontline workers say a company's training offer can convince them to join (IFOP x Beedeez 2024). And 63% learn more through knowledge sharing between colleagues than through conventional training. The 2026 edition confirms it: 9 workers in 10 see value in learning by talking things through with their manager or peers.

Training frontline teams is not just a question of format. It is a question of design: bite-sized content, accessible on every device, grounded in the reality of the job, and leaving real room for the collective.

Discover the IFOP x Beedeez 2026 study on the daily life of frontline teams

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Chapter XI

The key players in vocational training

Employers and the working beneficiaries are often the names associated with the topic of vocational training. Yet the main players in training are almost always overlooked, those whose job is to support skills development across the labour market: training providers.

Who are they? What is their role? What do they offer? From the private sector to public institutions by way of EdTech, discover those who are building the training of today and tomorrow.

What is a vocational training provider?

Here is what the Code du travail (the French Labour Code) means by a training provider, its scope of activity and its status.

Definition of a training provider

The training provider, also referred to as the dispensing body or organisation, is a person, whether an individual or a legal entity, who delivers, under an agreement or a contract, the skills-development activities defined in article L6313-1 of the Code du travail.

Scope of activity of a training provider

Training activity

As set out in the new definition introduced by the Act of 5 September 2018, a training activity corresponds to a learning pathway designed to reach a professional objective.

The provider therefore delivers training activities, whether short or long, with varied teaching methods, and whose end goal may be to obtain a certificate of attendance, a certification, a professional title or a diploma.

Skills assessment (bilan de compétences)

The bilan de compétences (a formal skills assessment under French law) falls within the scope of vocational training. It is defined in article L6313-4 of the Code du travail as a process undertaken by a working person to analyse their professional and personal skills, aptitudes and motivations, in order to define a career or training plan.

A bilan de compétences provider therefore supports the beneficiary through this process, in order to guide them in shaping their career development.

Accreditation of prior experiential learning

Like skills assessments, activities that allow prior experiential learning to be accredited (VAE, validation des acquis de l'expérience) are treated as skills development (article L6313-5 of the Code du travail), since they aim to obtain official recognition of skills through certification.

That said, the VAE is often long and demanding, since it takes place in two stages: first eligibility, then validation, which requires a substantial preparation phase before appearing in front of a panel.

Training providers can therefore provide methodological support to people engaged in a VAE process.

Training activity through apprenticeship

Professional skills development can take place through the apprenticeship route, which makes it possible to prepare for any diploma (vocational or technological) awarded by the national education system.

The Act on the freedom to choose one's professional future (loi pour la liberté de choisir son avenir professionnel) reshaped the boundaries of apprenticeship, which is now open to people up to the age of 29 inclusive.

This training arrangement is therefore aimed both at people who want to find their direction (initial training) and at those looking to change direction (continuing training), alternating periods of theory at a training centre with periods of practice in the workplace.

In this case, an apprenticeship contract is signed by the company, the beneficiary and the provider, an apprentice training centre (CFA, centre de formation des apprentis). It is the latter that is then responsible for delivering the theoretical teaching.

Legal status of training organisations

The training market in France is relatively open. There is therefore no constraint imposed on the legal status required to operate.

When looking for a training provider, it is therefore possible to turn to a:

• freelance trainer;
• company;
• association;
• educational establishment within the public sector;
• consular body;
• local authority, etc.

According to figures put forward by the Ministry of Education, in February 2020 more than 48,000 training organisations, whether public or private, were listed across the country.

The main types of training organisation

The training market splits into two broad categories: private organisations, which account for nearly 80% of activity each year, and public institutions positioned over the remaining 20%.

Alongside these organisations, two other types of structure operate within the vocational training landscape: the CFAs, which may be private or public, and the EdTech ecosystem.

Private training organisations

Freelance trainers, companies and associations

As we saw a little earlier, no legal status is imposed by regulation in order to deliver training activities. As a result, you find various types of structure (for-profit and not-for-profit) in the private sector.

A private organisation can therefore support the training of:

• individuals engaged in a personal career plan;
• employees, via the company and its skills development plan;
• learners as part of training delivered by another organisation.

Covering every field of activity, these players number in their thousands, spread across the whole country, and actively contribute to ensuring lifelong learning.

Apprentice training centres - CFA

Apprentice training centres (CFA) are the organisations responsible for steering the theoretical teaching part of a course delivered through apprenticeship.

Indeed, contrary to what one might think, this route is not reserved exclusively for the youngest and is aimed at a broad category of working people who take up an apprenticeship route in order to train or change career direction.

Apprentice training centres can be general or specialised in a particular occupational branch, and are run by public institutions (consular chambers, local authorities, the national education system, and so on) or by private-sector organisations (trade unions, associations, companies, and so on).

‍Group of establishments - GRETA

Groups of establishments (Greta, groupements d'établissements) are organisations created by educational establishments (lower secondary schools, general and vocational upper secondary schools) that pool their skills and resources in order to invigorate continuing training at local level.

These organisations are aimed at all working people: private-sector employees, public-sector staff, jobseekers, adults returning to work through a subsidised or work-based training contract, and individuals in a personal capacity. They also serve companies as part of delivering vocational training for their staff.

There are 137 Gretas across the country, with at least one in every department. Each is attached to the regional education authority (rectorat) that coordinates the allocation of catchment areas.

The strength of the Gretas lies in their network-based way of working and the breadth of the "pooled" skills, which allow them to offer training activities across many occupational fields: arts and crafts, support functions, industry, languages, and so on.

The training courses run by the Gretas are intended exclusively for adults. As a result, they are designed to measure and the teaching methods are adapted to the constraints of working life (in person or online, evening classes, sessions spread over several days or staggered over time, and so on).

National agency for adult vocational training - Afpa

The Afpa (Agence nationale pour la formation professionnelle des adultes) is a public-service institution, like France Travail (the French public employment service) or the missions locales (local services supporting young people into work). It has 116 training centres across the country and describes itself as a "benchmark operator for inclusion and social advancement through qualification and employment".

To carry out its work, the Afpa has two subsidiaries, one of which is dedicated to supporting employment and the training of companies and employees, and the other to supporting jobseekers.

As part of its remit, the Afpa offers a wide range of training across five categories:

• qualifying pathways;
• preparatory pathways;
• occupational pathways;
• work-study;
• regulatory pathways.

The length of Afpa courses varies, ranging from 3 days to more than 6 months depending on the career plan. Likewise, they can be delivered in person, remotely or as blended learning.

The Afpa is one of the largest operators in the public training service, with centres in every region and particular expertise in qualifying courses for those furthest from employment.

Consular chambers - CCI, CMA and agriculture

Consular chambers are public bodies responsible for representing the interests of local businesses in the following occupational branches:

• commerce and industry (CCI, chambres de commerce et d'industrie);
• trades and crafts (CMA, chambres de métiers et de l'artisanat);
• agriculture.

Among their duties, they also ensure the development of skills specific to their sectors through the vocational training and apprenticeship route.

This educational support can target every audience: young people as part of initial training, companies, employees and jobseekers.

National conservatory of arts and crafts - CNAM

The national conservatory of arts and crafts (CNAM, Conservatoire national des arts et métiers) is a public body attached to the Ministry of Higher Education, one of whose missions is to provide lifelong learning.

To this end, it delivers careers guidance, whatever a person's status, and offers every kind of training in line with each individual's career development plan:

• diploma or certification;
• à la carte teaching;
• short courses;
• accreditation of prior experiential learning.

The fields covered by CNAM courses are broad, ranging from accountancy to psychology by way of construction. Likewise, depending on the chosen learning pathway, the course can be delivered through a single teaching method or several combined modes of delivery (in person and remotely, for example).

The training market was long shared between private-sector organisations on one side and public ones on the other. But today a new player now holds a place in its own right.

EdTech and start-ups

The ecosystem of EdTech and its start-ups positions itself as a somewhat distinctive player in vocational training. EdTech designs solutions that meet the new expectations of the training sector, where it is becoming necessary to accelerate the growth of educational technologies.

To do so, it operates across a broad field, since it offers both:

• new tools aimed at companies and training organisations;
• new educational models aimed at individuals.

This ecosystem thus offers relevant solutions to companies and professionals who are pursuing the digitalisation of training.

Among these players, specialist LMS platforms such as Beedeez have positioned themselves in a segment that had so far been little addressed: the training of frontline teams. Where generalist platforms struggle to engage staff without a fixed desk, these mobile-first solutions, with short formats and Social Learning mechanics, answer real constraints that traditional training organisations do not cover.

Which quality certifications apply to the players in vocational training?

The Qualiopi certification

For a long time, no particular requirement was imposed by regulation regarding the quality of the learning pathways delivered by training organisations. Between Datadock (the former French quality-reference database for training funding), the many labels and other certifications, the training offer was very uneven, with no common criteria to let buyers assess a provider's actual quality.

In order to bring greater clarity to the clients of training providers, the "Avenir professionnel" Act (the 2018 French professional-future reform) therefore introduced a quality process for organisations wishing to continue benefiting from public and pooled funding for training.

As a result, the Qualiopi certification (the mandatory French quality certification for publicly funded training providers) became compulsory from 1^st January 2022. Obtaining it depends on putting in place a quality approach that complies with the national framework and is validated by an audit.

Since 2022, working with an organisation that is not Qualiopi-certified means being unable to draw on funding from OPCO (the French sector-based skills operators that fund training), CPF (the Compte personnel de formation, France's individual training account) or France Travail, which makes it an essential prerequisite for any company wishing to optimise its training spend.

The EDUFORM label

EDUFORM is a quality label rolled out by the French Ministry of National Education and Youth. It is aimed at all training providers, both private and public.

Recognised by the other players in vocational training, notably the prescribers and the funders, the EDUFORM label is awarded by the ministry at the end of a labelling procedure comprising three main stages: eligibility, the audit, and review of the application by the national EDUFORM Commission.

Obtaining the label is conditional on rolling out a teaching approach that meets the 14 criteria of the quality framework. The label is awarded for three years and means the Qualiopi certification is granted automatically.

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Vocational training: a system that keeps changing, challenges that endure

Understanding vocational training means navigating between individual rights, legal obligations, funding schemes and multiple players. The system is dense, but it was designed so that no one is left without a lever to pull.

For companies, the question is no longer whether they should train their teams. It is how to do it effectively, for all their staff, including those who have no desk, who work unsocial hours, and who have for too long been left outside the conventional schemes.

Formats are changing. Obligations are tightening. Staff expectations are shifting. This guide has given you the basics; it is up to you to build the strategy that fits your own reality.

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