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Evaluating Training and Continuing Professional Development

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Evaluating training means checking whether it achieved its aims and was worth its cost. A common method is the Kirkpatrick model: reaction, learning, behaviour, results. CPD is the ongoing process by which professionals keep their skills current, planned and recorded in an individual learning plan.

Understand Evaluating Training and Continuing Professional Development

Training costs money and time. An organisation needs to know if it worked. Evaluation compares what the training was meant to achieve with what actually happened. It starts by setting clear objectives before training begins. Without objectives, you cannot judge success.

The best-known framework is the Kirkpatrick model. It has four levels. Reaction: did trainees like the course? Learning: did they gain knowledge or skills? Behaviour: do they use the learning back at work? Results: did the organisation improve, for example fewer errors, lower costs or higher sales? Each level is harder to measure than the one before, but gives more useful information.

Evaluation methods include feedback questionnaires (often called happy sheets), tests before and after training, observation of work, appraisal reviews, and measuring performance data. Timing matters. Reaction is measured straight after the course. Behaviour and results need weeks or months to show.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the continuing process of developing and updating knowledge, skills and competence after qualifying. Professional bodies such as ACCA expect members to undertake CPD so they stay competent and protect the public interest. It links to the ethical duty of professional competence and due care.

An individual's learning plan (or personal development plan) sets out where you are now, where you want to be, what learning activities will close the gap, and by when. You then record what you did and reflect on what you learned. Learning can be formal, such as courses, or informal, such as reading, coaching and on-the-job experience.

Key formulas to remember

Kirkpatrick's four levels
Reaction → Learning → Behaviour → Results
Learn the order. Each level asks a different question about the same training.
Reaction level question
Did trainees find the training useful and enjoyable?
Usually measured by feedback forms straight after the course.
Learning level question
Did trainees gain the intended knowledge or skills?
Measured by tests or practical assessments, often compared before and after.
Behaviour level question
Are trainees applying the learning in their jobs?
Needs observation, manager feedback or appraisal, some time after the training.
Results level question
Did the training improve organisational performance?
Measured with business data such as quality, productivity, cost or sales. Hard to isolate training from other factors.
Learning plan cycle
Assess needs → Set objectives → Plan activities → Do → Record and reflect
A simple cycle for CPD. Wording varies, but the idea of plan, act, reflect is constant.

How to solve Evaluating Training and Continuing Professional Development questions

Use this method for any question on evaluating training or CPD.

  1. 1Read the question and decide if it is about organisational evaluation, individual CPD, or both.
  2. 2If it is evaluation, recall the four Kirkpatrick levels in order.
  3. 3Match the scenario to a level by asking what is being measured: feelings, knowledge, workplace practice, or business outcomes.
  4. 4For multiple response questions, count how many answers are required and tick only that number.
  5. 5For CPD questions, think: ongoing, planned, recorded, linked to competence and ethics.
  6. 6Check the wording for traps such as 'immediately after' (reaction or learning) versus 'months later' (behaviour or results).
  7. 7Choose the answer that fits most precisely, not one that is merely true in general.

Quickest way: Level-matching shortcut

When to use it: Use for objective test questions that describe a measure and ask which level or method it is.

  1. Find the measure in the question: feedback form, test score, observed behaviour, or business figure.
  2. Map it: feedback form = reaction; test score = learning; observed behaviour = behaviour; business figure = results.
  3. Eliminate options that name a different level.
  4. If the question is about CPD, pick the option stressing continuing, planned and recorded development.

Common mistakes in Evaluating Training and Continuing Professional Development

  • Treating good feedback forms as proof that training worked.

    Feedback is easy to collect, so students assume it is enough.

    Fix: Remember feedback only shows reaction, the lowest level. It does not show learning or workplace change.

  • Mixing up the learning and behaviour levels.

    Both involve skills, so they sound alike.

    Fix: Learning is what trainees can do at the end of training. Behaviour is what they actually do back at work.

  • Saying results can be measured immediately.

    Students forget that business outcomes take time.

    Fix: State that behaviour and results are assessed weeks or months later, and that other factors may also affect results.

  • Describing CPD as one-off courses only.

    Training is often linked to formal classes.

    Fix: Describe CPD as continuing and including informal learning such as reading, coaching and experience.

  • Forgetting evaluation needs clear objectives set beforehand.

    Students focus on measuring after the event.

    Fix: Say that objectives and a baseline must exist before training so results can be compared.

Worked examples

Example 1

A company trains its sales staff. Three months later, the manager reviews whether staff are using the new selling techniques with customers. Which Kirkpatrick level is this? Options: A Reaction; B Learning; C Behaviour; D Results.

Show the solution
  1. Identify what is measured: use of the techniques in the workplace.
  2. Note the timing: three months later, back at work.
  3. Using the shortcut, observed workplace practice is behaviour.
  4. Reaction is feelings about the course. Learning is knowledge at the end. Results would be sales or profit figures.

Answer: C Behaviour

Example 2

Explain briefly why an accountant should keep an individual learning plan as part of CPD.

Show the solution
  1. Define the plan: it records current skills, goals, planned learning activities and dates.
  2. Link to competence: it identifies gaps so the accountant stays up to date with standards, regulation and technology.
  3. Link to professional duty: bodies like ACCA expect CPD, and professional competence is part of ethical behaviour.
  4. Add practical benefit: recording and reflecting shows evidence of learning and supports career progression.

Answer: A learning plan identifies skills gaps, directs planned learning, records and reflects on activity, and helps the accountant maintain professional competence and meet the professional body's CPD expectations.

Exam tips

  • Memorise the four Kirkpatrick levels in order and attach one measuring method to each.
  • Read timing clues in the scenario. They usually point to the level.
  • For multiple response questions, select exactly the number asked for.
  • In CPD questions, look for the words continuing, planned, recorded and competence.
  • Do not spend long on this topic in the exam. Most questions are short and one-step.

Practice questions from Learning and training at work

Evaluating Training and Continuing Professional Development in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

Evaluating Training and Continuing Professional Development: frequently asked questions

What is the Kirkpatrick model?

It is a four-level framework for evaluating training: reaction, learning, behaviour and results. Each level asks a different question about the training's effect. Higher levels are harder to measure but more valuable.

What is CPD in ACCA?

CPD is continuing professional development. It is the ongoing process of keeping your knowledge, skills and competence up to date throughout your career. ACCA expects members to do it and to keep a record.

Why is it hard to measure the results of training?

Business results are affected by many things, such as the economy, competitors and management changes. It is hard to prove training alone caused an improvement. Results also take time to appear.

What goes in an individual learning plan?

It usually shows your current skills, your goals, the gaps between them, planned learning activities and target dates. You then record what you did and reflect on what you gained.