United Kingdom · Knowledge management · Principal/Manager (12-16 years)

Manager, Digital Employee Experience

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 bandPrincipal/Manager (12-16 years)
  • Direct reports10-25 reports
  • Reports toDirector, Knowledge Management
  • UK framework levelUsually a manager, or the deepest specialist in a team

Also advertised as Intranet Manager · Head of Internal Communications (Digital) · Knowledge Content Manager

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 1 of 6 standards
OTHM Level 5 Diploma in Project Management OTHM Qualifications · Level 5 · covers 1 of 6 standards
Highfield Level 5 Diploma in Operations Management Highfield Qualifications · Level 5 · covers 1 of 6 standards
ATHE Level 4 Extended Diploma in Digital Marketing ATHE Ltd · Level 4 · covers 2 of 6 standards
ATHE Level 4 Diploma in Digital Marketing ATHE Ltd · Level 4 · covers 2 of 6 standards
Pearson BTEC Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Marketing Management for England Pearson Education Ltd · Level 4 · covers 1 of 6 standards

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

The units you would start with

Manage knowledge in an organisation CMI Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Management and Leadership
Digital Business Practices OTHM Level 5 Diploma in Project Management
Project Implementation Highfield Level 5 Diploma in Operations Management
Content Marketing ATHE Level 4 Extended Diploma in Digital Marketing
Managing Marketing and Digital Communications Pearson BTEC Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Marketing Management for England

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner
Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
AI Governance Fluency using AI responsibly
Automation Fluency building AI into how work runs
Foresight Fluency seeing round the corner
Your Plan Illustration

Built for Manager, Digital Employee Experience

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

  1. Manage knowledge in an organisation Chartered Management Institute · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 5
  2. Digital Business Practices OTHM Qualifications · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 5
  3. Project Implementation Highfield Qualifications · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 5
  4. Content Marketing ATHE Ltd · covers 2 of 6 standards Level 4
  5. Managing Marketing and Digital Communications Pearson Education Ltd · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 4
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 Manager, Digital Employee Experience?

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

  • AI-Powered Knowledge Orchestration
  • Personalised Digital Experience Design
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 Manager, Digital Employee Experience 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

This job manages the digital tools and spaces that help staff find information and connect at work. It means building and looking after intranets and internal platforms so they stay useful and current. The role shapes how colleagues experience work each day, through the information they can reach and the tools they use.

4What you'd actually use

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

Intranet/DXP Platform Selection & Management (e.g., SharePoint Online, LumApps, Simpplr) Expert

Leading the RFI/RFP process for new platforms, defining enterprise governance, setting integration strategy with core business systems (like Workday or Salesforce), and owning the long-term roadmap for our digital employee experience platforms.

Enterprise Search Platforms (e.g., Coveo, Sinequa, Microsoft Search) Expert

Defining the enterprise search strategy, working with IT to configure connectors across multiple repositories, tuning relevancy models, and integrating search capabilities to ensure maximum findability for all internal knowledge.

Analytics & Reporting Tools (e.g., SWOOP Analytics, TyGraph, Power BI, Google Analytics) Expert

Using advanced analytics to justify investments, drive strategic decisions (e.g., 'Search failure on X topic is costing Y hours, justifying a Z project'), and integrating these insights with HRIS data to understand employee behaviour.

Collaborative Knowledge Platforms (e.g., MS Teams, Confluence, Notion) Advanced

Designing the overarching ecosystem of how knowledge flows between various collaboration tools and the intranet, defining the 'single source of truth' strategy, and ensuring seamless integration.

Project & Portfolio Management Software (e.g., Jira, Asana, Monday.com) Advanced

Managing the overall portfolio of Knowledge Management projects, tracking progress, allocating resources, and reporting on project health to senior leadership.

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
Content Strategy & Roadmap Executes tasks within defined content plans; no strategic input. Proposes content improvements for specific sections; contributes to project plans. Designs content strategies for specific user journeys or personas; makes recommendations for workstream priorities.
Budget Allocation No budget authority; flags potential cost overruns. Suggests cost-saving measures for routine tasks; manages small project budgets (up to £1K). Manages project budgets up to £5K; recommends tool purchases.
Team Management & Hiring No direct reports; focuses on individual contribution. Provides informal guidance to new joiners. Mentors 0-2 junior team members; provides input on performance reviews.
Platform Selection & Governance Uses existing platform features; follows governance rules. Identifies platform issues; proposes minor feature enhancements. Designs custom page templates; troubleshoots complex platform issues; recommends governance updates.

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.

Reduced Helpdesk Volume
The percentage decrease in 'how-to' or 'where-can-I-find' type questions directed to IT and HR helpdesks.
Target · A 15% reduction in relevant helpdesk tickets within 12 months.

If HR typically gets 100 tickets a month asking about the holiday policy, we'd aim to see that drop to 85, because the information is now easily findable on the intranet.

Intranet Adoption Rate
The percentage of active employees who log into and interact with the intranet at least once a week.
Target · Achieve 80% weekly active users across the company.

If we have 1,000 employees, we'd want to see 800 of them using the intranet each week, not just a handful of power users.

Time-to-Information for New Hires
The average time it takes for new employees to locate key onboarding documents (e.g., expense policy, IT setup guide) during their first month.
Target · Reduce this average time by 50%, as measured through user testing or surveys.

If a new hire typically spends 2 hours looking for benefits info, we'd want to cut that down to 1 hour or less, meaning they're productive faster.

Content Lifecycle Compliance
The percentage of critical intranet content that adheres to its defined review and archival schedule.
Target · Maintain 90% compliance for all 'Tier 1' (critical) content, and 80% for 'Tier 2' content.

If we have 200 critical policies, no more than 20 should be overdue for review at any given time, ensuring information stays current and accurate.

Strategic Influence
How often you and your team are proactively consulted on major internal communications, HR, or IT initiatives that involve information sharing.
  • You'll know you're succeeding when you're invited to planning meetings for new company-wide programmes, when senior leaders ask for your team's input on how best to communicate changes, or when other departments come to you for advice on structuring their own knowledge. It's about being seen as a strategic partner, not just a service provider.
Team Development & Engagement
The growth, satisfaction, and retention of your direct reports and the wider team.
  • You'll see low attrition rates within your team, positive feedback in engagement surveys, and clear examples of individuals taking on more complex challenges or mentoring others. It's about building a high-performing, happy team where people feel they're learning and contributing meaningfully.
Stakeholder Satisfaction with Content Strategy
How satisfied key departmental heads (HR, IT, Sales) are with the overall content strategy and the support their teams receive.
  • This will show up in direct feedback during quarterly reviews, positive comments in informal conversations, and a willingness from these departments to actively contribute content and resources. They'll trust your judgment and see your team as an enabler, not a gatekeeper.
Quality of Information Architecture
The overall logical structure and intuitiveness of the intranet's navigation and content organisation from a user's perspective.
  • This is about user feedback, really. You'll hear fewer complaints about 'I can't find anything,' and more positive comments about how easy it is to navigate. User testing sessions will show people completing tasks quickly, and search logs will reveal fewer failed queries, indicating a well-organised system.

7Would you like it

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

What people enjoy
Building Tangible Impact

You get a real kick out of seeing your team's work make a difference—whether it's a new hire quickly finding their way or a critical policy update reaching everyone who needs it. You're driven by the idea that better information flow genuinely improves people's working lives.

When you see the helpdesk ticket volume for 'how-to' questions drop by 20% after implementing a new knowledge base, that's what gets you going.

Empowering & Developing People

You thrive on coaching your team, helping them grow their skills, and watching them take ownership of complex projects. You find satisfaction in mentoring, delegating effectively, and fostering a collaborative environment where everyone feels valued and challenged.

Seeing a junior team member you've mentored successfully lead a significant content migration project, that's a huge win for you.

Solving Complex Organisational Puzzles

The challenge of bringing order to chaotic information, designing intuitive systems, and navigating organisational politics to achieve a strategic goal really energises you. You love taking a big, messy problem and architecting an elegant solution.

Figuring out how to integrate knowledge from three different departments into one cohesive intranet section, making it easy for users, is your kind of challenge.

What frustrates people
  • The Subject Matter Expert Bottleneck: Your team's workflow often grinds to a halt waiting for busy VPs or department heads to review and approve content.
  • Homepage Politics: The endless battle over who gets prime real estate on the intranet homepage, often for content that isn't company-critical.
  • Legacy System Constraints: Having to work around outdated technology or integrations that limit what you can achieve, despite your best ideas.
  • Proving ROI: Constantly having to justify your team's budget and headcount with metrics that are sometimes hard to tie directly to revenue.
  • The 'Dump and Run' Mentality: Departments sending unformatted, untagged content and expecting your team to magically make it perfect and findable.
What this role does not give you
  • A purely technical, heads-down coding role – this is heavily people and strategy focused.
  • An environment where every decision is clear-cut and universally agreed upon – you'll be navigating a lot of grey areas and conflicting opinions.
  • A role with zero administrative overhead – managing a team and budget always comes with some paperwork, even at this level.
  • A place where you can avoid internal politics – it's an inherent part of managing a company-wide platform.

8Who you work with

This role directly shapes the efficiency and effectiveness of internal communication and knowledge sharing across the entire organisation. You'll influence employee engagement, productivity, and the speed at which critical information flows. Get it right, and you'll save countless hours for our colleagues; get it wrong, and you'll create bottlenecks and frustration that ripple through every department.

Inside the business
  • Director, Knowledge Management (your direct line)
  • Heads of HR, IT, Marketing, and Sales (for content needs and adoption)
  • Executive leadership (for strategic updates and buy-in)
  • Product and Engineering teams (for platform integrations and development)
  • Internal Communications (for messaging and campaigns)
Outside the business
  • Intranet platform vendors (e.g., SharePoint, LumApps, Simpplr)
  • Consultancy partners (for specific projects or strategic advice)
  • Industry peers and professional networks (for best practice sharing)

9What you need before you start

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

  • Demonstrable experience leading and developing teams of 5+ individuals in a content, knowledge management, or digital communications setting.
  • Proven track record of designing and implementing enterprise-level information architectures and content governance frameworks.
  • Experience managing significant project budgets (e.g., £100K+) and making strategic investment decisions for digital platforms.
  • Strong ability to influence and manage relationships with senior stakeholders, including executive leadership.
  • A deep understanding of the full content lifecycle, from creation to archival, and the challenges involved in managing it at scale.

10What to practise next

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

Advanced DXP/Intranet Platform Architecture

Platforms are becoming more complex, offering deeper integration capabilities and a wider range of features. You'll need to understand how to architect a scalable, secure, and future-proof digital experience platform that can grow with the organisation.

Microservices Architecture · API Management & Integration Strategy · Cloud Deployment & Security · Scalability & Performance Optimisation

  • This month: Schedule deep-dive sessions with our IT and Engineering teams to understand our current system architecture and integration points.
  • Next quarter: Research leading DXP platforms beyond our current stack, focusing on their architectural capabilities and integration ecosystems.
  • Within 6 months: Develop a 'future state' architecture diagram for our digital employee experience, identifying potential gaps and opportunities.
  • Ongoing: Engage with platform vendor technical teams to understand their roadmaps and architectural best practices.

Quick win: Review our current intranet's performance metrics and identify any bottlenecks. Even without deep technical knowledge, understanding the symptoms helps you ask better questions.

Enterprise Search Relevancy & Optimisation

Search is the primary way many employees find information, but it's rarely perfect out-of-the-box. As knowledge grows, optimising search relevancy becomes a continuous, data-driven effort, often involving machine learning and natural language processing.

Relevancy Tuning Algorithms · Natural Language Processing (NLP) for Search · Federated Search · Search Analytics & User Behaviour

  • This month: Deep dive into our current search analytics. What are the top failed queries? What content is never found?
  • Next quarter: Work with your team to implement a 'best bets' or 'promoted results' strategy for key search terms.
  • Within 6 months: Explore advanced features of our search platform (or a potential new one) related to relevancy tuning and AI-powered search.
  • Ongoing: Regularly review search performance with your team and IT, making iterative improvements based on data.

Quick win: Identify the top 5-10 most frustrating failed search queries and ensure content exists for them, or that existing content is correctly tagged and optimised.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attending industry conferences and webinars (e.g., Digital Workplace Experience, KMWorld) to stay current on trends and network with peers.
  • Subscribing to leading industry publications and research (e.g., Nielsen Norman Group, Gartner) to inform strategic decision-making.
  • Participating in online courses or workshops on advanced topics like AI in KM, personalisation strategies, or enterprise architecture.
  • Mentoring junior professionals in the field, which helps solidify your own knowledge and leadership skills.
  • Contributing to industry thought leadership through blog posts, articles, or presentations, building your personal brand and our company's reputation.

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.

AI-Powered Knowledge Orchestration

AI is moving beyond simple content generation to actively orchestrate knowledge flows. This means designing systems where AI proactively surfaces relevant information, anticipates user needs, and automates complex knowledge tasks, rather than just waiting for a prompt. It's about creating a truly intelligent knowledge ecosystem.

  • Proactive Knowledge Delivery
  • Semantic Search & Graph Databases
  • Automated Content Curation
  • Personalised Knowledge Journeys

Personalised Digital Experience Design

Employees expect the same level of personalisation from their internal tools as they get from consumer apps. This means using data (role, location, department, past behaviour) to deliver a truly tailored intranet experience, making content and tools more relevant and engaging for each individual. It's about moving from a one-size-fits-all intranet to a 'my intranet'.

  • User Segmentation
  • Content Tagging for Personalisation
  • A/B Testing for UX
  • Data Ethics & Privacy

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Information Architecture (IA) Design
  • Taxonomy & Metadata Strategy
  • Content Governance & Policy Design
  • Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Design
  • Change Management (Organisational Scale)

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 Intranet Content Strategist (L3)

    Moving from L3 to L5 typically takes 4-7 years of dedicated development and leadership experience.

    Skills to master

    • You'd need to expand your scope from owning content strategies for specific personas to managing entire functional areas, taking on budget responsibility, and developing a team. Focus on strategic planning, stakeholder management at a higher level, and understanding the full technology stack.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully led multiple complex content strategy projects end-to-end.
    • Consistently mentored junior team members and demonstrated leadership potential.
    • Developed and presented strategic recommendations to senior management.
    • Proven ability to manage conflicting stakeholder priorities and drive consensus.
  2. 2

    Lead Knowledge & Content Architect (L4)

    Progression from L4 to L5 usually takes 3-5 years, building on architectural expertise with leadership and strategic ownership.

    Skills to master

    • You'd need to shift from designing the system to managing the people who design and maintain it, as well as owning the budget and strategic roadmap. Focus on team leadership, vendor management, and translating technical architecture into business value for executives.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully designed and implemented enterprise-level taxonomy and metadata schemas.
    • Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions and advocate for user needs.
    • Led small cross-functional teams or projects with significant impact.
    • Developed a deep understanding of various DXP platforms and their capabilities.
  3. 3

    Digital Communications Manager (from another organisation)

    This path usually takes 2-4 years to adapt to our specific context and build internal credibility, assuming you bring strong relevant experience.

    Skills to master

    • You'd need to quickly get up to speed on our specific intranet platforms, internal culture, and knowledge management methodologies. Focus on understanding our unique challenges, building relationships, and demonstrating your strategic leadership in a new environment.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Proven track record of managing digital communication channels and teams.
    • Experience with content strategy, governance, and user engagement.
    • Strong leadership and stakeholder management skills.
    • A clear understanding of the difference between external and internal digital experiences.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This work can lead towards knowledge strategy, employee experience leadership, or wider digital strategy roles.

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 Manager, Digital Employee Experience 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 Manage knowledge in an organisation, worked against Manager, Digital Employee Experience.

Manage knowledge in an organisation Level 5

Applied to your work in Manager, Digital Employee Experience

This unit aims to provide learners with an understanding of knowledge management principles, strategies, and the role of technology within organisations. Upon completion, learners will be able to identify, assess, and effectively manage knowledge assets to support organisational objectives.

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
Manager, Digital Employee Experience
  • Information Architecture (IA) Design
  • Taxonomy & Metadata Strategy
  • Content Governance & Policy Design
  • Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Design
  • Change Management (Organisational Scale)
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

Manager, Digital Employee Experience is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. Director, Knowledge Management (L6)

    Roughly 3-5 years from this Manager role, depending on organisational growth and individual performance.

    This is a significant step up, moving from managing a function to shaping the entire ecosystem of internal knowledge platforms across multiple business units.

    • Holistic knowledge ecosystem design (intranet, wiki, LMS, document management).
    • Advanced vendor negotiation and strategic partnership management.
    • Organisational change leadership at a business unit level.
    • Risk management for enterprise-wide knowledge assets.
  2. Head of Internal Communications (Digital Focus)

    This lateral move could happen in 2-4 years, leveraging your digital experience in a broader comms context.

    This role might be a lateral move or a slight step up, broadening your scope to all internal communications channels, not just the intranet.

    • Multi-channel internal communications planning (email, video, events, digital).
    • Measuring engagement across diverse communication platforms.
    • Developing and managing internal brand guidelines.
    • Strategic alignment with HR on employee experience initiatives.
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be honest, managing a digital employee experience function is a huge job, full of strategic thinking but also a fair bit of grunt work. Imagine if you and your team could reclaim hours every week from the mundane, freeing you up to focus on the big-picture stuff that really moves the needle.

That's where AI comes in. We're not talking about replacing people; we're talking about giving you and your team superpowers. AI tools are already transforming how Knowledge Management professionals work, from drafting content to spotting trends in user behaviour. Here's how they could specifically boost your team's productivity and strategic output.

Strategic Insights from Analytics

Use AI-powered analytics tools to automatically identify trends in user behaviour, content engagement, and search queries. Instead of manually sifting through data, AI can highlight the most critical content gaps, areas of low adoption, or opportunities for personalisation, giving you actionable insights faster.

Team Productivity Co-pilot

Equip your team with AI assistants for daily tasks. This could mean using AI to summarise long meeting transcripts, draft internal communications, or even help structure complex project plans. It frees up your content specialists to focus on higher-value creative and strategic work, rather than getting bogged down in drafting.

Content Strategy Generation

Leverage generative AI to brainstorm new content topics, analyse audience needs, and even suggest optimal content formats based on user data. This can significantly speed up the ideation phase of content planning, allowing your team to explore more creative and impactful strategies with less manual effort.

Governance & Compliance Automation

Implement AI tools that automatically scan new and existing content for compliance with brand guidelines, legal policies, or accessibility standards. AI can also flag content that's overdue for review or identify duplicates, making your content governance process far more efficient and less prone to human error.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Manager, Digital Employee Experience?

Common routes in include Senior Intranet Content Strategist (Moving from L3 to L5 typically takes 4-7 years of dedicated development and leadership experience.), Lead Knowledge & Content Architect (Progression from L4 to L5 usually takes 3-5 years, building on architectural expertise with leadership and strategic ownership.) and Digital Communications Manager (from another organisation) (This path usually takes 2-4 years to adapt to our specific context and build internal credibility, assuming you bring strong relevant experience.). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Manager, Digital Employee Experience progress to?

This role can lead on to Director, Knowledge Management (Roughly 3-5 years from this Manager role, depending on organisational growth and individual performance.) and Head of Internal Communications (Digital Focus) (This lateral move could happen in 2-4 years, leveraging your digital experience in a broader comms context.), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Manager, Digital Employee Experience?

Increasingly, AI-Powered Knowledge Orchestration and Personalised Digital Experience Design. 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 knowledge management

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

If you leave this industry

The skills built in this role carry across sectors and functions. Information architecture, content strategy and user experience knowledge can move into digital transformation, employee experience within HR or IT, or product management for internal tools.

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 Manager, Digital Employee Experience 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.