The Learning and Skills Council wanted to find a way of communicating the quality of training to companies looking for training provision in their area. It was decided to do this based on real user feedback from companies that had used the services of local training providers. In 2004, Hotcourses Solutions was asked to build a system that would allow employers to rate their experience of training provision and which enables employers and skills brokers to search for provision and view other employers' ratings.

In developing this system, Hotcourses Solutions:

Developed, with the Learning and Skills Council and other stakeholders, a set of rating categories and a rating system that allows providers to rate training providers and submit reviews

Linked the site to the live provider and provision data on the National Learning Directory

The introduction of the site:

Provides a source of employer based data and reviews about the suitability of training across a range of courses

Enables employers to search by provider region, rating, course type and distance