United Kingdom · Internal consulting · Lead (8-12 years)

Lead Process Improvement Consultant

Here is the whole job, in plain words. What it is, what you decide, how you're judged, how people get here and where they go next. Then the part no course gives you: twelve AI tutors who learn your work.

Free to start: a plan built for this role, and a Future Fluency module to try first. No card.

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One email: what AI is changing in this job, and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

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  • Experience bandLead (8-12 years)
  • Direct reports3-8 reports
  • Reports toManager, Continuous Improvement
  • UK framework levelUsually a manager, or the deepest specialist in a team

Also advertised as Senior Business Improvement Lead · Principal Process Analyst · Business Excellence Lead

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in qualifications employers recognise

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

CMI Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Management and Leadership Chartered Management Institute · Level 5 · covers 2 of 10 standards
iCQ Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership iCan Qualifications Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
Level 6 Award in Leading Organisational Change Institute of Sales Professionals · Level 6 · covers 1 of 10 standards
Qualifi Level 5 Extended Diploma in Business Management Qualifi Ltd · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
Focus Awards Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership (RQF) Focus Awards Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
Level 6 Certificate in Professional Sales Institute of Sales Professionals · Level 6 · covers 1 of 10 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Design business processes CMI Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Management and Leadership
Business Process Management iCQ Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership
Lead Organisational Change Level 6 Award in Leading Organisational Change
Business Operations Qualifi Level 5 Extended Diploma in Business Management

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner
Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
Frontier Fluency the next wave, beyond mainstream AI
Systems Fluency seeing the whole picture
Your Plan Illustration

Built for Lead Process Improvement Consultant

4 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

  1. Design business processes Chartered Management Institute · covers 2 of 10 standards Level 5
  2. Business Process Management iCan Qualifications Limited · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
  3. Lead Organisational Change Institute of Sales Professionals · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 6
  4. Business Operations Qualifi Ltd · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a Lead Process Improvement Consultant?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skills this role is being asked for

  • Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration for Process Design
  • Digital Twin & Process Simulation
Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your Lead Process Improvement Consultant plan as you set up, starting with a Future Fluency module on using AI in your job. No card.

Your first Future Fluency module is free. After that, your AI tutor is £70 a month.

3What this role really is

A lead process improvement consultant finds where business processes break down and leads the work to fix them. You look at how work gets done across a business, spot where it slows down or goes wrong, and lead the change to make it work better. You act as an internal consultant, working with teams to improve how they operate day to day.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

Microsoft Visio / Lucidchart Expert

Designing complex, multi-layered 'As-Is' and 'To-Be' process maps, creating and maintaining the team's template library, and mentoring junior analysts on best practices for process visualisation.

Celonis / UiPath Process Mining Advanced

Building custom analyses and dashboards to uncover root causes of process inefficiencies, configuring data connectors for new processes, and identifying opportunities for automated process discovery.

Power BI / Tableau Advanced

Creating complex, interactive dashboards with multiple data sources to monitor process performance, track improvement benefits, and present insights to senior leadership. You'll also use Power Query/Tableau Prep for data cleansing.

Jira / Asana Advanced

Configuring project boards, creating custom workflows and automations for improvement initiatives, managing project backlogs, and running sprint planning for your team. You'll also track team progress and report on project health.

Confluence / Notion / Miro Advanced

Designing the information architecture for the team's knowledge base, leading complex virtual workshops using advanced Miro facilitation techniques, and ensuring all project documentation is accessible and up-to-date.

SAP S/4HANA / Oracle NetSuite Intermediate

Understanding the end-to-end business processes within the ERP, identifying the root cause of issues related to system configuration or user error, and extracting data for process analysis. You'll liaise with IT on potential system changes.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choiceComing in Where you are nowThe step above
Project Scope & Methodology Follows defined scope; uses prescribed methodology. Defines scope for small projects; chooses methodology from approved list. Defines scope for workstreams; adapts methodology with input.
Budget Allocation No budget authority. All expenses approved by supervisor. Manages small project budgets up to £5K, approved by Manager. Recommends budget up to £25K for workstreams; requires Director approval.
Hiring & Team Development No hiring authority. Receives training and mentorship. Provides informal guidance to new joiners. No hiring authority. Mentors 0-2 junior analysts. Provides input on hiring decisions.
Stakeholder Communication Reports progress to supervisor. Limited direct stakeholder contact. Communicates project updates to internal clients and peers. Escalates issues. Manages stakeholder expectations for workstreams. Presents findings to functional leads.

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

Programme Cycle Time Reduction
The average percentage reduction in the end-to-end time it takes for a key business process you've redesigned.
Target · Achieve an average of 15-20% cycle time reduction across your led programmes.

If the customer onboarding process used to take 10 days, your programme should bring that down to 8 days or less, consistently.

Process Adherence Rate
The percentage of times a new or improved process is followed correctly by the operational teams.
Target · Maintain >90% adherence for all processes implemented under your guidance, 3 months post-launch.

After implementing a new expense approval process, 92% of expense reports are submitted and approved following the new steps, reducing errors and rework.

Team Member Progression
The number of direct reports who are promoted or take on significantly increased responsibility.
Target · At least one mentored L1/L2 analyst progresses to the next level or takes on a lead role within 18 months.

One of your Business Improvement Coordinators successfully takes on the lead role for a medium-sized project after your mentorship, demonstrating readiness for L3.

Cost Avoidance/Savings
Quantifiable financial benefits realised from process improvements, either by reducing operational costs or avoiding future expenses.
Target · Deliver £100K-£500K in documented annualised cost savings or avoidance across your portfolio of initiatives.

By streamlining the procure-to-pay process, you reduce manual invoice processing time, saving the Finance department £150,000 per year in labour costs.

Strategic Influence
Your ability to shape the direction of key business areas through your process improvement recommendations and insights.
  • You're proactively invited to strategic planning meetings for functional VPs. Your opinions are sought on major operational changes. Your recommendations are frequently adopted by senior leadership without significant pushback. You're seen as a trusted advisor, not just a project manager.
Problem Definition Clarity
How well you and your team articulate the root cause of a problem before jumping to solutions.
  • Project charters consistently include clear, data-backed problem statements. Stakeholders agree on the problem definition before solutioning. You can explain the 'why' behind an issue in simple terms to anyone, from a frontline worker to the CEO. You're known for getting to the heart of the matter quickly.
Knowledge Sharing & Best Practice Adoption
Your contribution to building the internal consulting team's overall capability and knowledge base.
  • You regularly contribute to our internal Confluence pages with best practice guides and templates. Your team members actively seek your advice on complex process challenges. You lead internal training sessions or workshops on new methodologies. You're seen as a thought leader within the department.
Stakeholder Engagement Quality
The effectiveness of your relationships with key business leaders and operational teams.
  • Operational managers consistently provide positive feedback on your team's engagement. You successfully navigate political landscapes to get buy-in for difficult changes. You can get conflicting departments to agree on a common path. People genuinely enjoy working with you and your team.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy
Solving Complex Puzzles

You thrive on taking a tangled, inefficient process and systematically breaking it down, analysing it, and then meticulously redesigning it into something elegant and effective. The messier the problem, the more engaged you are.

You're given a brief about 'slow month-end close' and you're excited to dig into every system, every manual step, and every hand-off to find the root causes.

Driving Tangible Impact

You're not content with just making recommendations; you want to see your ideas implemented and measure the real-world benefits. The satisfaction comes from knowing your work directly improved how the business operates, saving money or making people's jobs easier.

You get a kick out of seeing the cycle time reduction dashboard update, knowing your team's work directly contributed to those green numbers.

Building & Developing Teams

You enjoy mentoring junior colleagues, helping them grow their skills, and seeing them succeed. You get satisfaction from building a high-performing team that can tackle even bigger challenges together.

You spend extra time reviewing a junior analyst's process map, not just correcting it, but explaining the 'why' behind your suggestions, and seeing them 'get it'.

What frustrates people
  • The 'Efficiency Police' Stigma: Constantly fighting the perception that your job is to find fault, cut headcount, or add bureaucratic layers, rather than to make everyone's work life easier.
  • Resistance from 'Process Owners': Dealing with managers who are territorial about their processes and view your involvement as a threat to their authority or expertise.
  • The 'Yes' in the Room, the 'No' in the Hallway: Stakeholders will agree to changes in a group setting but will quietly resist or sabotage implementation offline. It's infuriating, but it happens.
  • Lack of Direct Authority: You have to influence and persuade people to change how they work, often without any formal power to mandate it. Your success is entirely dependent on your ability to build relationships and make a compelling case.
  • Inheriting a 'Plate of Spaghetti': Being asked to improve a process that has no documentation, no clear owner, and has been organically patched together over a decade. It's messy.
  • The ROI Measurement Trap: The significant benefits of your work (e.g., reduced employee frustration, better decision-making) are often difficult to quantify in hard pound savings, making it a challenge to prove your value to finance-focused leaders.
  • Scope Creep Disguised as a 'Quick Question': A request to 'just take a quick look' at a minor issue often uncovers a massive, systemic problem that you are then expected to solve with no additional resources. It's a classic.
What this role does not give you
  • A quiet, predictable routine where every day is the same. Expect chaos.
  • Direct authority to force change. You'll need to earn influence.
  • Immediate gratification on every project. Some changes take months, even years, to fully embed.
  • A role where you only focus on technical solutions without dealing with the 'people' side of change.

8Who you work with

Your work directly shapes the direction of how key functions operate, influencing everything from how we onboard a new customer to how we close our financial books. You're not just improving a process; you're building a more efficient, resilient, and adaptable organisation. Your decisions here can save the company hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds annually, and significantly improve employee morale and customer satisfaction. It's a big deal, honestly.

Inside the business
  • VP of Operations
  • Head of Finance
  • Product Leads
  • Sales Directors
  • IT Leadership
  • HR Business Partners
Outside the business
  • Strategic Technology Partners (e.g., ERP vendors)
  • Industry Bodies for best practice sharing

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

  • Proven track record of leading complex process improvement projects from definition to implementation, showing measurable results (e.g., 10%+ efficiency gains).
  • Demonstrated ability to mentor and guide junior team members, fostering their development and ensuring quality outputs.
  • Experience in successfully influencing senior stakeholders (Director level) to adopt new processes or change existing ways of working, even without direct authority.
  • Advanced proficiency in at least one process mapping tool (Visio, Lucidchart) and one data visualisation tool (Power BI, Tableau), including building custom dashboards.
  • A solid understanding of enterprise business systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle) and how process changes impact these systems.
  • Certification in Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (Black Belt preferred) or equivalent demonstrable expertise in a structured improvement methodology.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

Advanced Process Mining & Anomaly Detection

Moving beyond basic process discovery, you'll need to use process mining to identify complex, non-compliant process flows and automatically detect anomalies that indicate fraud, errors, or significant inefficiencies. This requires a deeper understanding of the platform's capabilities and data science principles.

Conformance Checking · Predictive Process Monitoring · Root Cause Analysis Automation · Process Discovery for Unstructured Data

  • This month: Complete advanced training modules offered by Celonis or UiPath Process Mining on conformance checking and predictive analytics.
  • Month 2: Lead a project specifically focused on identifying and quantifying non-compliant process behaviour using process mining.
  • Month 3: Present a case study to the team on how advanced process mining uncovered a significant, previously unknown process inefficiency.

Quick win: Explore the 'variant explorer' function in your process mining tool to identify the most common deviations from the ideal path in a key process.

Data Governance & Quality for Process Improvement

The quality of your process insights is only as good as the data you're using. As we rely more on data-driven process improvement, understanding data governance, data quality frameworks, and master data management becomes critical. You'll need to champion clean, reliable data.

Data Quality Dimensions · Master Data Management (MDM) · Data Lineage & Provenance · Data Stewardship

  • This month: Take an online course on data governance or master data management principles.
  • Month 2: Collaborate with the Data team to understand our internal data quality frameworks and how they apply to process data.
  • Month 3: Lead an initiative to improve the data quality for a critical process, working with data owners and IT.

Quick win: Identify one key data element in a process you're working on and map its journey through the systems, noting any potential points of data degradation.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attending industry conferences and webinars on process excellence, digital transformation, and AI in operations.
  • Actively participating in professional communities or forums focused on Lean Six Sigma, BPM, or internal consulting.
  • Pursuing advanced training in data analytics, process mining tools, or AI applications for business improvement.
  • Mentoring junior colleagues and actively seeking mentorship from more senior leaders within the organisation.
  • Contributing thought leadership through internal presentations, articles, or case studies on successful improvement initiatives.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration for Process Design

Our competitors are already using large language models (LLMs) to draft process documentation, analyse qualitative feedback, and even suggest 'To-Be' process variations in minutes. Analysts who figure this out will outproduce peers 3:1. This isn't future-gazing; it's happening now.

  • Context Windows & Token Limits
  • Temperature Settings for Different Tasks
  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) Architectures
  • Output Validation & Hallucination Detection
  • Prompt Chaining for Complex Analysis

Digital Twin & Process Simulation

Businesses are moving beyond static process maps to dynamic simulations. Being able to build a 'digital twin' of a process allows us to test changes, predict outcomes, and quantify benefits before we even touch the live system. This drastically reduces risk and speeds up implementation.

  • Simulation Modelling Software
  • Discrete Event Simulation (DES)
  • What-If Analysis
  • Data Integration for Simulation
  • Visualisation of Simulation Results

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Lean Six Sigma (DMAIC/DMADV)
  • Business Process Management (BPM) & Re-engineering (BPR)
  • Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
  • Change Management (ADKAR Model)
  • Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
  • Agile Project Management

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

  1. 1

    Senior Business Improvement Specialist (Internal Promotion)

    3-5 years as an L3

    Skills to master

    • You'd need to have consistently led complex workstreams, demonstrated strong mentorship capabilities for junior analysts, and proven your ability to influence functional leads. Taking initiative on cross-departmental projects is key.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Consistently delivering projects that meet or exceed their objectives.
    • Proactively identifying and scoping new improvement opportunities.
    • Being the go-to person for complex problem-solving within your domain.
    • Receiving positive feedback on your ability to mentor and develop others.
  2. 2

    External Management Consultant (from Big 4 or boutique firms)

    8-12 years in consulting

    Skills to master

    • You'd bring a wealth of experience in structured problem-solving, client management, and delivering measurable results across various industries. The challenge here is adapting to the internal politics and slower pace of change compared to external consulting.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Experience leading engagement teams and managing client relationships.
    • Strong track record of delivering significant cost savings or revenue growth for clients.
    • Ability to quickly understand new business contexts and build rapport with internal stakeholders.
    • A genuine desire to 'own' the impact of your work long-term, rather than just delivering a report.
  3. 3

    Senior Operations Manager (from internal business units)

    5-8 years in a demanding operational role + 3-5 years in a process-focused role

    Skills to master

    • You'd bring invaluable practical experience of how processes actually work on the ground, understanding the pain points firsthand. You'd need to develop stronger methodological skills (e.g., Lean Six Sigma Black Belt) and a broader, cross-functional perspective.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Deep domain expertise in a specific business function (e.g., Supply Chain, Finance Operations).
    • Demonstrated success in improving processes within your own operational area.
    • A clear passion for continuous improvement and a desire to apply it more broadly.
    • Strong relationships and credibility within the operational teams.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This work can lead to directing process excellence across a business. It can also lead to enterprise transformation roles with strategic reach, or to a chief operating officer role overseeing operations across a whole company.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how Lead Process Improvement Consultant is actually changing.

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Design business processes, worked against Lead Process Improvement Consultant.

Design business processes Level 5

Applied to your work in Lead Process Improvement Consultant

This unit aims to provide learners with a comprehensive understanding of business process design techniques and tools. Learners will be able to develop and improve business processes, taking into account organisational needs and objectives, and evaluate their effectiveness against key performance indicators.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Lead Process Improvement Consultant
  • Lean Six Sigma (DMAIC/DMADV)
  • Business Process Management (BPM) & Re-engineering (BPR)
  • Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
  • Change Management (ADKAR Model)
  • Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
  • Agile Project Management
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

Lead Process Improvement Consultant is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. This is a significant step, moving from leading programmes to directing the entire function. You'll manage a larger team (including other Leads), set the department's strategy, and be accountable for its overall impact and ROI.

    • Portfolio Management Overseeing a diverse portfolio of improvement initiatives, ensuring alignment, managing interdependencies, and optimising resource allocation.
    • Vendor Management Evaluating, selecting, and managing relationships with external technology vendors or consulting partners.
    • Process Maturity Model Implementation Leading the adoption and assessment of formal process maturity models (e.g., CMMI, BPMN) across the organisation.
  2. Principal Process Architect (Individual Contributor Path)

    3-5 years as an L4

    This is an expert-level individual contributor role, focusing on designing highly complex, enterprise-wide process architectures and serving as the ultimate technical authority for process design. You won't manage people directly, but your influence will be immense.

    • Complex System Design Designing highly resilient, scalable, and adaptable processes for critical business functions.
    • Process Governance Frameworks Developing and implementing enterprise-wide standards, policies, and guidelines for process design and management.
    • Data-Driven Process Innovation Using advanced analytics and AI to identify entirely new ways of operating and delivering value through process redesign.
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be honest, a big chunk of process improvement work involves sifting through data, writing reports, and trying to get everyone on the same page. Imagine if you could cut out a significant portion of that grunt work, freeing you up to focus on the truly strategic, high-impact stuff. That's exactly what AI can do for a Lead Process Improvement Consultant.

We're not talking about replacing your job; we're talking about giving you a superpower. Our AI Productivity Hub is designed specifically for internal consulting roles, showing you how to use cutting-edge tools to automate the tedious, accelerate your analysis, and amplify your influence. You'll be able to tackle bigger problems, faster, and with more precision than ever before.

Automated Process Discovery

Use AI-powered process mining tools (like Celonis or UiPath Process Mining) to automatically analyse system event logs from SAP, Salesforce, or other core systems. This generates a real-time, data-driven 'As-Is' process map in minutes, bypassing weeks of manual interviews and workshops. It's like having an army of digital detectives working for you 24/7.

Predictive Bottleneck Analysis

Leverage AI models to analyse historical process data and predict where future bottlenecks are likely to occur based on changing variables like sales volume, seasonality, or resource availability. This shifts your team from reactive problem-solving to proactive optimisation, allowing you to address issues before they even happen. Imagine knowing next quarter's choke points today.

Best-Practice Research Synthesis

Use an AI assistant to rapidly research and synthesise industry best practices for a specific process (e.g., 'Summarise the top 5 best practices for a procure-to-pay process in the manufacturing industry'). This provides a robust starting point for your 'To-Be' design, giving you a competitive edge without spending days sifting through academic papers or consultant reports.

Change Management Communication Drafting

Use generative AI to create first drafts of all your change management communications: project charters, stakeholder updates, training documentation, and FAQs for new processes. The AI ensures consistent tone and messaging across all materials, which you then refine, saving you hours of writing and ensuring clarity for everyone involved.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Lead Process Improvement Consultant?

Common routes in include Senior Business Improvement Specialist (Internal Promotion) (3-5 years as an L3), External Management Consultant (from Big 4 or boutique firms) (8-12 years in consulting) and Senior Operations Manager (from internal business units) (5-8 years in a demanding operational role + 3-5 years in a process-focused role). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Lead Process Improvement Consultant progress to?

This role can lead on to Manager, Continuous Improvement (3-5 years as an L4) and Principal Process Architect (Individual Contributor Path) (3-5 years as an L4), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Lead Process Improvement Consultant?

Increasingly, Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration for Process Design and Digital Twin & Process Simulation. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

Free tools

Want a read on where you stand?

Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.

17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 5

Same depth of qualification, different job. Useful if the work appeals but this particular role does not.

More jobs in internal consulting

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.

If you leave this industry

The skills built in this role apply across most industries. Manufacturing, finance, healthcare and tech all need people who can improve how things run. This can lead to external consulting, an operational excellence role in a large corporate, or building efficient processes in a smaller or newer organisation.

This role profile is © 2026 Growth Engineering Technologies Ltd. Built from UK occupational standards and regulated qualification data, and written for Zavmo.

You're not behind. You're right on time. The shift is only just beginning. Your role won't look the same in two years. Be the one who leads the change, not the one it happens to. Start my Lead Process Improvement Consultant plan, free What happens next: a free account, then we build your plan as you set up. No card. Build your plan, see your roadmap and meet the twelve tutors matched to you. All free. When you're ready to start learning, it's £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.