This year's awards competition has attracted a record 44% increase in entries over last year, with a significant contribution from global organisations.

Paying tribute to the support of the learning community for cementing the position of The Learning Awards as the sectors leading awards ceremony, LPI Chief Executive, Colin Steed, said, "The heritage and reputation of The Learning Awards is unrivalled. It’s still the first event that’s marked on the L&D calendar, and we’re now seeing this replicated on a global scale."

Historically, the number of submissions for the Awards has risen year-on-year, and yet the depth and quality of the entries has not diminished.

Steed remarked, "This year we have been taken aback by the huge increase in submissions, all of which have been extremely high quality. With such a large number of entries, the competition is fierce, making the achievement of our shortlisted entries all the more impressive. The 2015 Learning Awards will be the most competitive ever, and just to make the finals is a tremendous achievement of which the organisations and the individuals should be truly proud."

Steed continued, "All those who didn't make the finals should know that, with such high competition, they have not failed but should be proud of their achievements. They need to continue working with the business, continue raising the standards, and hopefully we can welcome them to a future Learning Awards. To the selected Finalists, I'd like to offer my congratulations. I look forward to seeing them at The Dorchester on 05 February."

THE LEARNING AWARDS 2015 – FINALISTS

Internal Learning Solution of the Year - Sponsored by QA
Telefonica
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust
GlaxoSmithKline
Legal & General Assurance Society
LV=
Sainsbury's

External Learning Solution of the Year - Sponsored by Cisco 
Afiniti
BP and LearningAge Solutions
Purple Media
QA
Saffron Interactive
Squared Online

Apprenticeship Programme of the Year 
Aintree University Hospital
Babcock Training
Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Nagel Langdons
Stonegate Pub Company
Wm Morrison Supermarkets

People Development Programme of the Year - Sponsored by Insights
J.P. Morgan
Barclaycard
Exertis
Glasgow City Council
McDonald's Restaurants
Tesco Bank

Learning Technologies Award - Sponsored by Microsoft
Barclays and City & Guilds Kineo
Caixabank
Elix-IRR and Morrisons
J.P. Morgan
Ontuitive and Barnardos
Thomson Reuters & Interactive Services

Innovation in Learning Award - Sponsored by Afiniti
Axia Interactive Media
Bayer
BT
Humana: National Education
PwC & Atticmedia
The Open University

Social & Collaborative Media Award - Sponsored by GlobalEnglish
Cognizant
LearningAge Solutions
Mooc Pro
Saffron Interactive
Squared Online
Tata Consultancy Services

Start-up Learning Provider of the Year
AsliTas TrainingPsychology Consultancy
C2L Care to Learn
Carlton Learning
Elephants Don't Forget
Evolve Hospitality
Jan Pan

Live Online Facilitator of the Year - Sponsored by Saba Software (UK) Ltd
Mike Dobkin, Dell
Kiran PV, Jigsaw Academy

Learning Professional of the Year - Sponsored by Pearson Professional 
Loiza Tallon, Arvato Bertelsmann
James Conaghan, De Vere Hotel & Urban Resort
Santosh T, Dell
Steve Furniss, Leicester City Council
Rebecca Hawkswell, Nationwide Building Society
Glen Butler, Tesco

CLO of the Year
Sandra Murtagh, Dell
Rick Jackson, DHL Express
Dave Buglass, Tesco Bank

Learning Team of the Year - Sponsored by KnowlegeAdvisors
Dell
Financial Conduct Authority
Metrobank
PSA Peugeot Citroen/Cornerstone OnDemand
University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust
Virgin Holidays

Learning Provider of the Year- Sponsored by Prometric Limited
Futurethink
Kallidus
Learning Pool
Mind Gym
Netex
Sponge UK

The winner of the Colin Corder Award for significant and lasting contribution to learning, sponsored by Pluralsight, will also be announced at the ceremony.

Shortlisted entries will now be required to present their submissions to a panel of independent judges during judging week, hosted at The Grange City Hotel in London later this month.

The Learning Awards is proud to support this year’s nominated charity, Dreamflight. Dreamflight is a registered UK charity that changes young lives through taking seriously ill and disabled children, without their parents, on the holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, Florida. A charity auction will take place before the awards presentation to raise money for the organisation.