A professional training centre in Coimbra, certified by DGERT, was managing trainee enrolments on paper — forms filled in by hand, photocopied and archived in folders. Satisfaction and effectiveness assessments were paper forms collected at the end of each course, which nobody systematically compiled. When DGERT requested training effectiveness indicators, the team panicked. After implementing a digital system for online enrolments, electronic assessments and a KPI dashboard, the centre reduced administrative time by 74%, increased class occupancy rates by 28% and passed its last DGERT audit with zero non-conformities.
The Scenario Before: Paper, Folders and Panic Before Audits
ProformaHub (real case — data altered under NDA) is a professional training centre based in Coimbra, DGERT-certified in four areas of education and training. It offers in-person training in areas such as workplace safety, food hygiene, team management, digital skills and first aid. With 8 permanent staff (3 administrative, 1 pedagogical coordinator, 1 director and 3 auxiliaries) and a pool of 22 external trainers, the centre delivered around 180 training sessions per year, with an average of 14 trainees per class.
The enrolment process was entirely analogue:
The interested party phoned or visited the centre to ask about available courses. An administrative assistant checked the calendar (in Excel) and informed them of dates, times and prices.
If the interested party wished to enrol, they filled in a paper enrolment form — name, tax ID, address, qualifications, employer, motivation for the training. The form was photocopied, filed in the course folder and the data was manually entered into an Excel spreadsheet.
Payment was made in person (cash or card) or by bank transfer — in which case, the trainee sent proof of payment by email and the administrative assistant manually cross-referenced it with bank records.
At the end of each course, trainees filled in paper satisfaction assessment forms. These forms were collected, counted and (theoretically) the results would be compiled. In practice, the forms accumulated in boxes for months. When DGERT requested effectiveness indicators — satisfaction rate by trainer, by course, trends over time — the team spent days manually counting paper forms.
The Numbers Behind the Problem
• Average time to process one enrolment: 22 minutes (service + form + Excel entry + confirmation).
• Enrolments lost due to unavailability outside hours: estimated 25–30 per month.
• Average class occupancy rate: 64% (classes with empty seats due to lack of visibility/ease of enrolment).
• Assessment forms compiled: less than 40% of total collected.
• Time to prepare for DGERT audit: 120 person-hours (3 weeks of intensive work).
• Weekly hours on training administration: 56 hours (3 full-time administrative staff).
• Errors in trainee records: 14% (wrong tax ID, incomplete address, missing data).
• Non-conformities in last DGERT audit: 4 (two major).
The Solution: Digitalisation of the Complete Training Cycle
Component 1: Online Enrolments with Integrated Payment
We developed an online enrolment portal integrated into the centre's website. The training catalogue shows all available courses, with dates, times, duration, price, syllabus and trainer profile. The trainee can filter by area, date, modality (in-person, blended learning) and price.
Enrolment is completed online in 3 minutes: the trainee fills in their details (with automatic tax ID validation and required fields), selects the course, accepts the terms and conditions and proceeds to payment (Multibanco, MB WAY, credit card or bank transfer). Confirmation is immediate and automatic, with a confirmation email containing all logistics details (address, times, what to bring, emergency contact).
For company-funded training, the system allows batch enrolments — a company's HR manager can enrol several employees at once, with invoicing to the company. The system automatically generates the quote, the training proposal and, upon approval, the individual forms for each trainee.
The enrolment data automatically feeds the course's digital technical-pedagogical dossier, eliminating the need for manual transcription and the errors associated with it.
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DGERT and professional training best practices require several types of assessment. We implemented all of them digitally:
Diagnostic assessment (pre-training): an online questionnaire sent automatically one week before the course starts, assessing the trainee's prior knowledge level. The results allow the trainer to tailor the content to the specific class.
Learning assessment (during/end): knowledge tests conducted digitally, with automatic grading for multiple-choice and true/false questions, and trainer notification for open-ended questions. The results are automatically recorded in the trainee's dossier.
Satisfaction assessment (end): a digital questionnaire sent by email on the last day of training, with satisfaction scales across multiple dimensions — content, trainer, facilities, materials, applicability. Results are compiled automatically and in real time.
Impact assessment (3–6 months after): a questionnaire sent automatically to the trainee and their line manager (where applicable), to evaluate the transfer of skills to the workplace. This assessment, which previously simply was not done, is now automatic and consistent.
All assessments are stored digitally, indexed by trainee, course, trainer and period, and accessible at any time — for internal analysis or for presentation during audits.
Component 3: Training Effectiveness KPI Dashboard
The dashboard centralises all the indicators that DGERT may request — and many others that the centre's management values for decision-making:
• Overall satisfaction rate and by dimension (content, trainer, facilities), with trends over time.
• Pass rate by course and by trainer, compared with previous periods.
• Occupancy rate by course (enrolled trainees vs. room capacity).
• Drop-out rate (trainees who enrol but do not attend).
• Impact indicators (results from the 3–6 month assessment).
• Revenue by course, by trainer and by training area.
• Trainer ranking by satisfaction, pass rate and impact.
• Revenue forecast based on confirmed enrolments and demand trends.
The dashboard is updated in real time and can generate PDF reports for audits with a single click — what previously took 3 weeks of manual work now takes 30 seconds.
Results After 10 Months: Before vs. After
• Enrolment processing time: from 22 minutes to 0 (self-service online).
• Class occupancy rate: from 64% to 82% (+28%).
• Enrolments outside business hours: 41% of total (previously lost revenue).
• Satisfaction assessments compiled: from 40% to 100% (automatic).
• Errors in trainee records: from 14% to 0.8% (automatic validation).
• Time to prepare for audit: from 120 person-hours to 4 hours.
• Weekly hours on administration: from 56 to 14.5 (74% reduction).
• Non-conformities in last DGERT audit: zero.
• Annual revenue: 31% increase (more full classes, fewer drop-outs).
Financial Impact
The total investment — enrolment portal, assessment system, KPI dashboard, accounting integration, historical data migration and training — was €22,000. The annual operational saving (freed administrative time) is estimated at €48,000. The incremental revenue generated by higher occupancy rates and out-of-hours enrolments adds €67,000 in the first year. Payback was achieved in 3 months.
Conclusion
DGERT-certified training centres face a dual challenge: managing a complex operation (calendars, trainers, rooms, enrolments, assessments, certificates) and meeting demanding regulatory requirements for documentation and quality indicators. Doing both with paper tools and Excel is possible — but it consumes resources that should be invested in training quality and business growth.
ProformaHub demonstrated that digitalising the training cycle is not a luxury — it is an operational and regulatory necessity. And the return is fast, measurable and transformative.
