How much does EA training cost in the UK?
EA training in the UK costs anywhere from about £200 for a single coaching session to more than £4,000 for a week-long course, and the price tells you surprisingly little about what you will get.
Most specialist, in-person training for Executive Assistants and PAs sits between £500 and £1,750 plus VAT for a one or two-day programme. Multi-month accredited programmes run from around £1,300 to £1,750. The variables that actually matter are who is teaching, whether the content was written for EAs or adapted from something generic, and what happens after the day ends.
I spent fifteen years as a senior Executive Assistant, much of it in FTSE 100 chief executive offices, and later managed a global team of 60 EAs with a training budget to spend on them. I have sat through a great deal of EA training as a delegate and bought a great deal more as a manager, and I have watched most of it change nothing. I created eavolve because of it, and I knew from the very start what I wanted training to look like. I now build every programme eavolve delivers, so take this as a view from inside the industry. What follows is an honest comparison, with every price taken from the provider’s own website on 7 October 2026. Prices change, so check before you book.
What EA training costs in the UK right now
| Provider and programme | Format | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Global PA Association, The Evolving Role of Executive Assistants & AI | Two half-days online, or one day in person. CPD accredited | £500 + VAT (£450 for members) |
| Souters, PA Course | Three days, virtual classroom | £499 (VAT status not stated) |
| eavolve, Future Ready EA & PA Training Day | One day in person, London and Manchester, with a 30-day plan and follow-up call | £675 + VAT |
| Souters, Executive PA, CPD accredited | Virtual classroom | £699 (VAT status not stated) |
| Your Excellency, Essential PA Programme | Five months, blended, Ofqual-regulated Level 3 award | £1,295 + VAT |
| eavolve, EA & PA Strategy Training Day | One day in person, London and Manchester. CPD accredited | £1,500 + VAT |
| University of Salford, The Strategic Executive Assistant (Level 4) | Two days in person, Manchester | £1,725 + VAT |
| Your Excellency, Mini MBA for Senior & Executive Assistants | Five months, blended, IAM accredited | £1,745 + VAT |
| London Corporate Training, Executive PA Training | Five days in London, or online | £4,495 |
| Pitman Training, Executive PA Diploma | Blended, around 320 hours of study | Price on application |
One-to-one coaching sits outside the table because it is priced per session. Ours starts at £195 plus VAT for a 90-minute Breakthrough Session, with four-session and eight-session packages at £1,150 and £2,000. Membership communities are different again. The Secret Club is £42 plus VAT a month.
What drives the price
Who is teaching. A trainer who has actually done the role charges more than a generalist adapting a management course, and should. You are paying for pattern recognition that only comes from having sat in the seat. It is the one thing eavolve will not compromise on: we only work with people who have done the role.
Whether it was written for EAs. Much of what is sold as EA training is generic professional development with the word “assistant” added. Specialist content costs more to build and is worth more, because every example is your actual work.
Group size. A room of eight is a different product from a webinar of eighty. Small groups cost more per head and are where the peer learning happens.
What happens afterwards. A certificate is cheap to provide. A structured plan and a follow-up call are not, and they are the difference between a good day and a changed habit.
Accreditation. CPD accreditation, an Ofqual-regulated award and a university level all add cost. Each is worth something to someone, which brings me to the next point.
What accreditation is actually worth
In fifteen years as an EA, and in the years I spent hiring and developing EAs for my own team, nobody ever asked me for a qualification and I never asked for one. What we all looked for was evidence: the leaders you have supported, the projects you have delivered, the judgement you have shown. Accreditation earns its keep in two places. If your L&D team needs CPD hours to approve the spend, a CPD accredited course clears that hurdle. If you are early in your career and want a recognised certificate on your CV, an Ofqual-regulated award such as Your Excellency’s Level 3 does that job. For an experienced EA, I would weigh accreditation last, after who is teaching and what you will leave with. The best judge of training is what changes in your executive’s diary a month later, and no certificate measures that.
How to judge value, not price
Work out what an hour of your executive’s time is worth to the organisation, then ask what the training will give back. A day that returns two hours a week to a chief executive has paid for itself within a quarter at any price in the table. A cheaper course that changes nothing is the expensive option. Three questions sort the field quickly. Who exactly is in the room teaching, and what have they done? Will I work on my own inbox, diary and briefings, or on case studies? What happens on the Monday after?
Jemma Edwards-Carne, who attended our Strategy Training Day, put the test better than I can: “The sessions were grounded in the real-world challenges we face in these roles, and focused on how we can step up as strategic partners, not just operational support.” If a provider cannot describe their day in those terms, the price is the least of your problems. You can read every Strategy Training Day review from named attendees, with their role and LinkedIn profile.
What eavolve charges, and why
I wrote and deliver every programme we run, so this is the part where I explain our own prices. Our EA & PA Strategy Training Day is £1,500 plus VAT: a full day in person in London or Manchester, CPD accredited, in a small group, built from what I learned running chief executive offices and leading EAs. It is the deeper investment in how you operate as a strategic partner. The Future Ready EA & PA Training Day is £675 plus VAT: a day on AI built only for EAs and PAs, working in your own tools, with a 30-day plan and a follow-up call included. Payment plans are available on both training days. Coaching runs from £195 plus VAT a session. For teams, our corporate training is quoted per day or as a monthly retainer from £250 an hour plus VAT. We are not the cheapest in the table and we are not the most expensive. We are the only one in it built and delivered entirely by people who have done the EA job at the top of the profession. That training did not exist when I needed it, so I built it, and that is what you are paying for.
Getting it paid for
Most people who attend our days are employer-funded. Having approved training budgets myself, I can tell you the case is easier than most EAs expect when it is framed around what the executive gets back, and we have written a guide to how to ask your employer to fund your training, with a free one-page employer overview to go with it. If you are weighing options and want an honest view on which suits you, including when the answer is not us, book a free 30-minute Discovery Call. All of our programmes are under EA and PA training, and the skills they build are set out in what a modern Executive Assistant needs in 2027.
Frequently asked questions
Sometimes. A short virtual course is a reasonable way to learn a specific tool or technique, and some are well taught. What it rarely does is change how you operate, because that needs practice on your own work, honest feedback and other EAs in the room. If the brief is “learn Excel”, buy the cheap course. If the brief is “become more strategic”, budget for a day in person with people who have done the job.
In fifteen years as an EA, and hiring EAs for my own team, I was never asked for one and never asked for one. Accreditation matters in two situations: when your L&D team needs CPD hours to approve the spend, and when you want a recognised certificate on your CV early in your career. For experienced EAs, the evidence of what you have delivered counts for far more than a qualification, and the best training is judged by what changes in your executive’s diary afterwards.
For one EA, between £675 and £1,750 plus VAT for a full day of specialist in-person training, or £200 to £300 for a single coaching session. For a team, most organisations pay less per head by booking an in-house training day or a monthly retainer. Our free employer funding guide sets out how to make the case, and our corporate training page covers the team options.
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How much does EA training cost in the UK?
EA training in the UK costs from about £200 for a coaching session to more than £4,000 for a week-long course. An honest comparison of what the main providers charge, what drives the price and how to judge value.
