UK

United Kingdom · Operations · Lead (8-12 years)

Maintenance Supervisor

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.

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As a Maintenance Supervisor, a good place to start on IIoT Data Interpretation for Predictive Maintenance is Using Data to Direct a Department's Priorities, a free Future Fluency module at Level 5. You'd practise using the data your department already produces to decide where its effort should go.

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One email: what AI is changing in this job, the new skills it asks for, where it leads, 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 toMaintenance Manager
  • UK framework levelUsually a manager, or the deepest specialist in a team

Also advertised as Operations Maintenance Lead · Lead Maintenance Coordinator · Facilities Maintenance Team Lead

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in what real qualifications cover

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

EAL Level 3 NVQ Extended Diploma in Engineering Technical Support Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited · Level 3 · covers 4 of 10 standards
EAL Level 3 NVQ Extended Diploma in Engineering Maintenance Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited · Level 3 · covers 3 of 10 standards
EAL Level 4 NVQ Extended Diploma in Engineering Manufacture Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited · Level 4 · covers 3 of 10 standards
EAL Level 3 NVQ Extended Diploma in Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited · Level 3 · covers 2 of 10 standards
ETCAL Level 3 Diploma in Facilities Management ETC Awards Limited · Level 3 · covers 2 of 10 standards

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

The units you would start with

General maintenance engineering applications EAL Level 3 NVQ Extended Diploma in Engineering Technical Support
Maintaining mechanical devices and equipment EAL Level 4 NVQ Extended Diploma in Engineering Manufacture
Maintenance and Repair of Electrical Hard Facilities Systems ETCAL Level 3 Diploma in Facilities Management
Control maintenance and other engineering operations for recycling activities CIWM (WAMITAB) Level 3 Diploma for Sustainable Recycling Activities (Supervisory)

The future skills this job leans on

Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
Your Plan Illustration

Built for Maintenance Supervisor

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

  1. General maintenance engineering applications Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited · covers 4 of 10 standards Level 3
  2. Maintaining mechanical devices and equipment Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited · covers 3 of 10 standards Level 4
  3. Maintenance and Repair of Electrical Hard Facilities Systems ETC Awards Limited · covers 2 of 10 standards Level 3
  4. Control maintenance and other engineering operations for recycling activities CIWM · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 3
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 Maintenance Supervisor?

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

The new skill this role is being asked for

  • IIoT Data Interpretation for Predictive Maintenance
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 Maintenance Supervisor plan as you set up, starting with the free Data Fluency module. No card.

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

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Keep this read. One email with what AI is changing in this job, the new skills it asks for and where to start free. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

3What this role really is

A Maintenance Supervisor leads a small team of technicians, keeping plant equipment running safely and efficiently. It is a hands-on leadership role. You fix problems, guide your team, and make sure everyone works safely. Your decisions affect production output and costs directly.

4What you'd actually use

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

CMMS/EAM (e.g., SAP PM, Fiix, UpKeep) Advanced

Building PM schedules, running compliance reports, managing asset hierarchy, approving work orders, tracking parts consumption, and generating failure analysis reports.

Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Software (e.g., Fluke Connect, Augury) Intermediate

Analysing trends from sensor data, setting alert thresholds, and using PdM insights to justify proactive work orders and prevent breakdowns.

Safety & Compliance Software (e.g., iAuditor, Intelex) Advanced

Conducting digital audits, tracking team compliance with safety training, investigating incidents, and managing safety documentation.

MS Project / Smartsheet Intermediate

Building Gantt charts for small projects (e.g., minor shutdowns), tracking resource allocation, and monitoring project timelines for your team's work.

Microsoft Excel (Power Query, PivotTables, VLOOKUP) Advanced

Creating maintenance budgets, tracking parts inventory with PivotTables, analysing failure data, and building simple reports for management.

Microsoft Teams / Slack Advanced

Creating channels for specific projects, managing team files, coordinating with other departments, and running daily stand-ups or safety briefings.

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
Authorising a critical repair exceeding budget Escalate to Maintenance Supervisor for approval. Escalate to Maintenance Supervisor for approval, provide cost estimate and rationale. Propose solution and estimated cost to Maintenance Supervisor; may approve if within delegated authority.
Changing a PM schedule due to production demands Inform Maintenance Supervisor of production request. Inform Maintenance Supervisor and suggest alternative timing. Discuss with Production Supervisor, then propose revised schedule to Maintenance Supervisor for approval.
Disciplinary action for a team member Report incident to Maintenance Supervisor. Report incident to Maintenance Supervisor, provide observations. Report incident to Maintenance Supervisor, provide recommendation for action.
Procuring a new specialist tool for the team Suggest need to Maintenance Supervisor. Research options and present case to Maintenance Supervisor. Research, justify ROI, and propose purchase to Maintenance Supervisor.

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.

Schedule Compliance
The percentage of planned maintenance work orders that your team completes within the scheduled timeframe each week.
Target · >90% weekly

If you plan 100 jobs for the week and your team finishes 92, that's 92% compliance. We're aiming for consistency here, not just hitting targets occasionally.

Team Wrench Time
The actual percentage of your technicians' day spent performing hands-on maintenance tasks, rather than looking for parts or waiting for permits.
Target · Increase from 35% to 45%

If your team's current average is 35% wrench time, we'd want to see that climb steadily towards 45% by optimising planning and reducing delays. It's about making sure your team is actually doing what they're paid for.

Team Safety Record
The number of Lost Time Incidents (LTIs) or recordable injuries within your team.
Target · Zero LTIs

This is non-negotiable. We expect your team to have zero lost time incidents. Any near misses or minor injuries will be thoroughly investigated to prevent recurrence.

PM Compliance
The percentage of scheduled Preventive Maintenance (PM) tasks completed within their specified time window.
Target · >98% on-time completion

If we have 200 PMs due in a month, we expect at least 196 of them to be completed within the +/- 10% due date window. Skipping PMs is just borrowing trouble from the future.

Team Morale & Development
How well you're building a cohesive, skilled, and motivated team. Are your technicians growing?
  • Low team turnover, positive feedback in skip-level meetings, technicians actively seeking your guidance, demonstrable skill growth (e.g., a junior tech mastering a new repair), effective delegation.
Problem Resolution Quality
Your ability to lead your team to identify and fix the actual root cause of failures, not just patching symptoms.
  • Fewer repeat failures on 'bad actor' equipment, comprehensive Root Cause Analysis (RCA) reports, effective implementation of corrective actions, proactive suggestions for reliability improvements.
Communication Clarity
How effectively you communicate with production, management, and your team, especially during critical breakdowns.
  • Clear, concise, and timely updates during downtime, production supervisors feeling informed and heard, your team understanding their priorities, no surprises for the Maintenance Manager.
Adherence to Safety Protocols
Your unwavering commitment to enforcing all safety procedures, particularly Lockout/Tagout (LOTO).
  • Zero LOTO violations, consistent enforcement of PPE rules, thorough pre-job risk assessments, technicians feeling safe and empowered to stop unsafe work, positive feedback from the H&S team.

7Would you like it

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

What people enjoy
Solving Complex Problems

You'll be the first one on the scene when a tricky breakdown occurs, enjoying the challenge of diagnosing the issue and figuring out the best way to get things running again. You'll lead Root Cause Analysis sessions, digging into 'why' things failed.

When a 'bad actor' machine keeps failing in a new way, you're energised by the puzzle of finding the actual cause and putting in a permanent fix, not just a temporary patch.

Leading and Developing a Team

You'll spend a good chunk of your day coaching your technicians, delegating tasks, and making sure they have the right skills and tools. You'll celebrate their successes and help them learn from mistakes, building a strong, capable unit.

Seeing a junior technician you've mentored confidently tackle a complex repair for the first time, or watching your whole team successfully execute a challenging planned shutdown.

Ensuring Operational Continuity

You get a real sense of satisfaction from keeping the plant running. Knowing that your efforts directly contribute to hitting production targets and avoiding costly downtime is a big driver for you.

Successfully managing a critical repair during a busy shift, minimising production loss, and getting a nod of appreciation from the Production Manager.

What frustrates people
  • The Squeeze Play: Being pressured by production to release equipment early from a PM window, then being blamed when that same asset fails a week later due to the incomplete work. It's a classic.
  • Procurement Battles: Fighting with the purchasing department because they bought a cheaper, non-OEM part that you know will fail prematurely, just so they can hit a cost-saving metric. It's infuriating.
  • Data Garbage-In, Garbage-Out: Knowing your CMMS is full of poorly written, incomplete work orders from the off-shifts, making it impossible to run accurate failure analysis. It's like trying to bake with half the ingredients.
  • Cost Centre Perception: Being viewed as a necessary evil and a drain on the budget until a major breakdown occurs, at which point you're suddenly expected to be a miracle worker. The reality is messier than that.
  • Deferred Maintenance Debt: Being forced to constantly postpone non-critical PMs to meet short-term budget goals, all while knowing you're creating a multi-million pound reliability time bomb for the future. It's a tough pill to swallow.
  • The 'Squeaky Wheel' Effect: Having your carefully planned schedule completely derailed by an urgent work order to fix a minor inconvenience for a senior executive, while a truly critical asset is showing early signs of failure. It happens.
What this role does not give you
  • A predictable, 9-to-5, no-surprises routine. Maintenance is inherently reactive sometimes.
  • A quiet, desk-bound job. You'll be on the shop floor a lot, dealing with noise and activity.
  • A role where you only focus on one thing. You'll be juggling safety, people, budgets, and technical problems constantly.
  • A place where you can avoid conflict. You'll need to push back on production and procurement sometimes.

8Who you work with

Your direct impact is on plant uptime, operational efficiency, and, crucially, safety. You're the one who keeps our assets healthy, which means we can meet customer demand and avoid expensive production delays. Get it right, and you save us a fortune in lost production and repair costs. Get it wrong, and the whole operation feels it.

Inside the business
  • Production Supervisors (you'll be talking to them constantly)
  • Health & Safety Team (keeping everyone safe is paramount)
  • Procurement (getting the right parts, on time, at the right price)
  • Engineering Team (for bigger projects or tricky technical issues)
  • Warehouse/Stores (for spare parts and inventory management)
Outside the business
  • Specialist Contractors (when we need outside expertise)
  • Equipment Vendors (for parts, warranty, and technical support)
  • Auditors (for safety and compliance checks)

9What you need before you start

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

  • Proven ability to lead and motivate a small team of technicians, ideally 3+ years in a senior technician or team lead role.
  • Demonstrated experience in planning and scheduling maintenance work, balancing reactive and proactive tasks.
  • Solid track record of applying Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to solve recurring equipment problems.
  • Expert-level understanding and strict adherence to Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) and other critical safety procedures.
  • Strong mechanical and electrical aptitude, with the ability to troubleshoot complex industrial machinery.
  • Good grasp of MRO inventory management principles and how they impact maintenance effectiveness.
  • Experience using a modern Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) for work order management and reporting.

10What to practise next

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

Digital Work Instruction & Augmented Reality (AR)

Paper manuals are becoming a thing of the past. Digital work instructions, often delivered via tablets or even AR headsets, will guide technicians through complex repairs, provide real-time data overlays, and ensure consistency. This will drastically reduce errors and training time.

Interactive SOPs · Remote Expert Guidance · Data Overlay

  • This month: Research leading AR maintenance platforms (e.g., Vuforia, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides) and watch some demo videos.
  • Next quarter: Volunteer to pilot a digital work instruction project for a common PM task.
  • Month 4-6: Work with IT to explore how our existing CMMS could integrate with digital instruction platforms.
  • Month 7-9: Train your team on using new digital tools, becoming the internal champion for adoption.

Quick win: Start converting one of your team's most frequently used paper checklists into a simple digital form using a tool like Google Forms or Microsoft Forms. It's a small step, but it gets you thinking digitally.

Basic Data Analytics & Reporting Automation

You'll be expected to not just collect data, but to analyse it and present clear insights. Manual report generation is a time sink. Automating this will free you up to focus on the 'what next' rather than the 'what happened'.

Dashboard Creation · Automated Reporting · Data Storytelling

  • This month: Get really good at Excel's Power Query and PivotTables – these are your immediate friends for data manipulation.
  • Next quarter: Take an introductory course on Power BI or Tableau to learn how to build interactive dashboards.
  • Month 4-6: Build one automated report for your Maintenance Manager, showing weekly PM compliance without manual effort.
  • Month 7-9: Start presenting your team's performance using data-driven dashboards in your weekly meetings.

Quick win: Identify one recurring report you currently create manually. Think about how you could automate just one small part of it using existing tools like Excel macros or Power Query.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Attending industry conferences and workshops on maintenance best practices, reliability engineering, or new technologies.
  • Participating in online forums or communities for maintenance professionals to learn from peers and share insights.
  • Undertaking further training in leadership, coaching, or advanced troubleshooting techniques.
  • Working towards the CMRP certification if you don't already have it.
  • Taking courses on data analytics tools like Power BI or Tableau to enhance your reporting capabilities.

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.

IIoT Data Interpretation for Predictive Maintenance

More and more of our equipment is getting sensors, spitting out data on vibration, temperature, current, and more. Being able to make sense of this data is becoming critical. Competitors are already using this to predict failures weeks in advance, moving from reactive to truly proactive maintenance.

  • Sensor Data Types
  • Data Visualisation
  • Basic Anomaly Detection
  • Condition-Based Monitoring (CBM)

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
  • Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM)
  • Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
  • Preventive/Predictive Maintenance (PM/PdM) Optimisation
  • MRO Inventory Management
  • Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) & Safety Protocols

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 Maintenance Technician

    3-5 years as a Senior Technician

    Skills to master

    • Advanced troubleshooting, mentoring junior colleagues, leading complex repairs, understanding of plant systems, strict adherence to safety.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Consistently the 'go-to' person for tricky breakdowns.
    • Actively mentoring and guiding less experienced technicians.
    • Proactively identifying and suggesting reliability improvements.
    • Demonstrated leadership during critical repair efforts, even without a formal title.
  2. 2

    Maintenance Planner/Scheduler

    2-4 years as a Planner after technician experience

    Skills to master

    • Work order management, resource allocation, PM optimisation, understanding of CMMS functionality, strong organisational skills.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Excellent track record in planning and scheduling, with high compliance rates.
    • Strong understanding of the plant's operational needs and maintenance priorities.
    • Effective communication with both technicians and production teams.
    • Ability to foresee potential scheduling conflicts and propose solutions.
  3. 3

    External Hire (Experienced Supervisor)

    Direct entry with 5-8 years of supervisory experience

    Skills to master

    • Team leadership, budget management, safety programme ownership, strategic planning for maintenance, CMMS expertise.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Proven leadership role in a similar industrial setting.
    • Demonstrable experience managing a team of technicians.
    • Strong track record of improving maintenance KPIs (e.g., uptime, safety).
    • Ability to quickly adapt to new plant layouts and equipment.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This role can lead to plant management or operations leadership, running production, safety and cost performance across a whole site.

16Pay and demand

ONS's coding index maps “Maintenance Supervisor” to more than one occupation, so there is no one median to quote. Rather than pick, here is each one it could be, with its own figure:

  • Skilled metal, electrical and electronic trades supervisors £45,150 a year
  • Construction and building trades supervisors £45,021 a year

ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, from the April 2025 survey, about six months old when published, as ASHE always is, under the Open Government Licence.

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 Maintenance Supervisor is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

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 General maintenance engineering applications, worked against Maintenance Supervisor.

General maintenance engineering applications Level 3

Applied to your work in Maintenance Supervisor

The objective of this unit is to enable learners to carry out general maintenance engineering applications in accordance with established procedures and safety regulations. Learners will develop practical skills in performing maintenance tasks and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the procedures, tools, equipment, and techniques involved.

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
Maintenance Supervisor
  • Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
  • Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM)
  • Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
  • Preventive/Predictive Maintenance (PM/PdM) Optimisation
  • MRO Inventory Management
  • Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) & Safety Protocols
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.

17The 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

Maintenance Supervisor is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. Maintenance Manager

    3-5 years in the Supervisor role

    From managing a team to managing the entire site's maintenance function, including budget, strategy, and overall CMMS health.

    • Advanced CMMS Configuration & Optimisation
    • Reliability Engineering Principles (deeper dive into RCM, FMEA)
    • Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement Methodologies
    • Data Analytics for Maintenance Performance Reporting

  2. Reliability Engineer

    3-6 years in the Supervisor role

    From day-to-day team leadership to a specialist role focused on long-term asset health and performance improvement across the site.

    • Advanced Predictive Maintenance Technologies (vibration analysis, thermography, oil analysis)
    • Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Facilitation
    • Life Cycle Costing (LCC) Analysis
    • Asset Criticality Assessment
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, your days are packed. Between urgent breakdowns, managing your team, and making sure everything's safe, there's not much time left for anything else. But what if you could shave off hours from your week, freeing you up to focus on what truly matters: proactive maintenance and team development?

That's where AI comes in. We're not talking about robots taking over your job – far from it. We're talking about smart tools that handle the tedious, time-consuming parts of your role, giving you back precious time and making your decisions sharper. Imagine having an intelligent assistant that helps you predict failures, diagnose problems faster, and even draft job plans. It's not science fiction; it's happening now, and we're building it into how we work.

Predictive Work Order Generation

Our AI monitors sensor data from critical equipment (vibration, temperature, acoustics) to spot early signs of trouble. It won't just alert you; it'll automatically create a detailed, pre-populated work order in the CMMS, telling your team exactly what's likely to fail and what needs doing. No more manual data analysis or typing up routine jobs.

Root Cause Analysis Accelerator

When a 'bad actor' machine fails again (and you know they do!), AI instantly sifts through all its historical work orders, parts used, and technician notes. It highlights patterns and suggests the most probable root causes, giving you a massive head start on your investigation. You'll get to the 'why' much faster, leading to more permanent fixes.

Smart Spare Parts Advisor

Imagine a technician logs a failure mode on their tablet. AI immediately cross-references the asset's Bill of Materials (BOM) and historical usage. It then recommends the exact parts needed, confirms they're in stock, and even tells you their precise storeroom location. No more wasted time hunting for parts or guessing what's required.

Standardised Job Plan Drafter

Need a new PM procedure? Just tell the AI the asset type and the tasks you want done. It'll draft a comprehensive job plan, complete with safety steps (LOTO), required tools, and estimated times, pulling data from manufacturer manuals and our best-practice library. You'll create consistent, high-quality job plans in a fraction of the time.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Maintenance Supervisor?

Common routes in include Senior Maintenance Technician (3-5 years as a Senior Technician), Maintenance Planner/Scheduler (2-4 years as a Planner after technician experience) and External Hire (Experienced Supervisor) (Direct entry with 5-8 years of supervisory experience). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Maintenance Supervisor progress to?

This role can lead on to Maintenance Manager (3-5 years in the Supervisor role) and Reliability Engineer (3-6 years in the Supervisor role), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Maintenance Supervisor?

Increasingly, IIoT Data Interpretation for Predictive Maintenance. 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.

Read the Zavmo manifesto to understand how you will be taught Meet your tutors

Or try another one

18Where 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 operations

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.
If you leave this industry

The skills built as a Maintenance Supervisor apply across manufacturing, logistics, utilities and facilities management. Good maintenance leadership is needed in most industrial settings.

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 free Data Fluency module 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.