Personal training account: the beginning of the end?

Are training organizations, at least a certain part, capable of (surviving) without the windfall that the Personal Training Account represents for them? This is one of the big questions that has arisen since the entry into force (last February 26) of the new rules and conditions of eligibility for certain training courses with its CPF to which each active person can claim.

Since its launch, a little over ten years ago, the CPF has resulted in nearly ten million validated training courses (source: Ministry of Labor) representing several billion euros of training purchases.

A certain market, today subject to new rules. The CPF, version 2026, caps the usable amount at 1,500 euros for training under the famous RS, a specific directory, 1,600 euros for a skills assessment and 900 euros for the driving license. This is for the capping…!Â

A purely accounting logic…?

In terms of eligibility conditions, the cut is just as drastic. To take the case of the driving license, it is today only eligible for job seekers or employees if they benefit from co-financing.

As for the skills assessment, to be financed by the CPF, it must respect the following condition: “The holder must not have benefited from public or private funding for a skills assessment carried out over the last five years.”

Financing channel

Access to training should be more difficult for a good number of beneficiaries (especially those who need it the most and who are financially less well off) because the remaining cost, after the introduction of a co-payment a few years ago, will be mathematically a lot more importantly, the co-payment has already increased from 103.2 euros to 150 euros.

“The CPF has completely changed its face. After a regulatory phase intended to fight fraud and introduce a co-payment, the State decided to switch this year to a purely accounting logic. explains a business training professional.

“The objective is to generate 250 million euros in savings over a full year. To achieve this, the government attacked the segments which until now provided the vitality of the system.” 

In 2024, nearly 1.4 million training courses were financed by the CPF, including 22.3% for driving licenses (car and motorcycle), 9% for language training, 6% for business creation training and 5.7% for the skills assessment.

“For several years, the CPF has profoundly structured the professional training market by providing volume, commercial fluidity and massive solvency of demand”notes an industry observer.Â

Many training organizations have “specialized” in the CPF and some have seen it as a means of real development and growth. The fact remains that the CPF is far from being an economic model, it is just a financing channel…