Kirkpatrick and Beyond

A review of models of training evaluation

Training is expected to make a difference, to change people, organisations, even the competitiveness of the UK. Evaluation is how we know whether it works, and the reality often is that we don't know.

Despite growing levels of training evaluation at organisational level, much of it is conducted in a simple and unsophisticated way. Research urges practitioners to do more and to do it better.

The literature is full of suggestions on approaches that regard the Kirkpatrick model as no longer adequate. This report looks critically at Kirkpatrick and the other models that purport to be significant improvements.

It develops a model of the learning process to help underpin any approach to training evaluation, and reviews what we know about evaluation and the factors that affect training success.