We took a look at our customer data to get a sense of how learners are engaging with course content in their LMS.
Learning teams often ask the same question: when do learners actually engage with the LMS?
To answer it, we analyzed a full year of anonymised LMS usage data across our entire customer base.
The results paint a clear picture of learner behaviour including when engagement peaks, when it drops, and how L&D teams can work with (not against) these natural rhythms.
Also remember that you can look into L&D trends.
Let’s get started.
Admin user numbers are pretty level regardless of the size of the LMS
From our own customers, admin users ranged from 8 to 26 in total.
From an LMS with a course library of 150 to one with over 8,000 courses, it was surprising to see similar admin numbers.
But when we dug deeper, there were clear reasons for the numbers of L&D admin for each customer.
Admin role scalability
Many of our LMS platforms are designed to centralise administrative tasks, meaning that a small team can manage a large number of users quite efficiently.
The scalability of our platform also means that the number of admins needed doesn’t need to necessarily grow proportionally with the size of the user base.
Varying LMS needs
One customer is a training provider that offers learning content to users, as opposed to being an internal L&D function within an organisation.
This allows them greater freedom in terms of supporting HR functions like onboarding and so spend more time on content management.
Meanwhile, one customer with the largest admin base is an extended enterprise.
They create multiple tenants to offer specialised training to resellers of their product.
That means a lot of hands on work, and likely, account management.
Decentralised user management
Larger organisations might assign certain user management tasks to department leads, team managers, or other specialised roles outside the core admin group.
This delegation keeps the formal admin count low while distributing workload effectively.
Outsourcing
One of our customers outsources a lot of their LMS configuration directly to us. So, from build to maintenance, they require a much smaller team in-house to build the platform they need.
This level of support allows their team to focus on content management and learner engagement.
LMS user count grew by 23% in 2025
All of our customers saw growth in 2025.
We onboarded a lot of new customers, so it’s hardly surprising to see this number go up.
Excluding our new customers, we saw growth in users of over 16% in the year.
Of course, the variation in user growth customer to customer was starkly different. One customer saw growth of over 25%, while another saw growth of just 5.8%.
The reason for this?
Well, some are adding new employees, while others are attracting new customers.
We serve a wide range of industries meaning each one grows at its own pace.
But, it’s still exciting to see such significant growth in the past year.
Average login rate of users to an LMS was 23%
We found, on average, across all of our customers, and across the entire year, the average login rate to an LMS was 23%.
However, this varied month to month.
Here is the average login rate for our total customers, on a month by month basis.
| Month | Login Rate (%) |
| Jan | 24 |
| Feb | 22 |
| Mar | 24 |
| Apr | 21 |
| May | 22 |
| Jun | 23 |
| Jul | 21 |
| Aug | 16 |
| Sep | 32 |
| Oct | 28 |
| Nov | 25 |
| Dec | 18 |
These figures give us some very interesting findings.
When we look at login rates on a month-by-month basis, engagement remains relatively stable across the first half of the year.
From January through July, average login rates fluctuate within a narrow range, sitting between 21% and 24%.
This consistency suggests that learners are moderately engaged during this period, but not significantly driven toward learning unless prompted.
The pattern changes sharply in late summer.
September is the best month for LMS engagement
September stands out clearly as the most engaged month across our LMS customer base.
With nearly a third of users logging in on average, it outperforms every other month by a wide margin.
This result is far from surprising.
September often represents a natural reset point for organisations.
Employees return from summer holidays, teams refocus on objectives, and learning initiatives regain momentum.
For many learners, September feels like a fresh start which makes them more receptive to development opportunities and more willing to engage with learning platforms.
August and December are the worst months for LMS engagement
At the opposite end of the scale, August and December consistently show the lowest levels of LMS engagement, with login rates of 16% and 18% respectively.
This trend closely mirrors what we observed in the previous year, where both months again ranked lowest for LMS logins.
The reasons behind this are largely behavioral rather than platform-related.
August is dominated by summer holidays, reduced working hours, and out-of-office time, all of which limit learners’ availability and focus.
December follows a similar pattern, with Christmas holidays, year-end deadlines, and mental disengagement contributing to learning falling down the priority list.
Even highly motivated learners are less likely to seek out new learning during these periods.
The end of the quarter is a good time for LMS engagement
Another notable pattern emerges when engagement is viewed through the lens of business cycles rather than individual months.
Engagement tends to increase toward the end of quarters, particularly in June and September.
These periods are often associated with performance reviews, compliance deadlines, and goal-setting conversations between managers and employees.
As a result, learning becomes more directly tied to outcomes, accountability, and progression.
When learning is connected to tangible business moments, learners are far more likely to log in and take action.
Quarter one is key for learner development
While Q1 does not reach the peak engagement levels seen in September, it stands out for its consistency.
January, February, and March all show remarkably similar login rates, suggesting a steady baseline level of learner engagement.
This aligns closely with what we discovered in last year’s data.
On average, Q1 continues to be a vital period for L&D teams to invest in their LMS.
At the start of the year, learners are more open to development, more receptive to messaging around growth, and more inclined to align learning with personal and professional goals.
Learning teams that perform well in Q1 typically support this mindset with targeted campaigns, relevant content, and messaging that ties learning to the “new year, new skills” mentality.
While learners can be engaged throughout the year, Q1 presents a clear opportunity to build momentum that carries forward into later months.
L&D professionals increased their course library by 21%
Our customers each had a large suite of learning content, with libraries ranging from 25 to over 9,000.
But what was clear with each customer was their commitment to creating new content.
Even in the smallest course libraries, new courses were created.
And this doesn’t include any courses that were altered or edited. This shows that L&D professionals are continuing to invest in new content for their learners.
💡 Pro Tip
Looking to create more content to keep up with demand? One key L&D trend for 2025 is microlearning. This is an easy way to keep learning front of mind and help users learn, on their terms.
Learn more L&D trends to try
Course enrolment varies greatly month on month
To better understand learner intent, we also analysed course enrolments throughout the year.
To protect customer confidentiality, we normalised the data so that, if enrolments were evenly distributed, each month would account for roughly 6.5% of the total.
This gives us an average in which we can then compare to the actual results.
September once again stands out, at 12%, nearly double the expected monthly average.
June also performs strongly, with enrolments sitting at just under 10%, suggesting that learners are particularly willing to commit to new courses around mid-year.
| Month | Course enrolment (%) |
| Jan | 7.9% |
| Feb | 6.6% |
| Mar | 6.9% |
| Apr | 7.1% |
| May | 6.7% |
| Jun | 12.6% |
| Jul | 7.3% |
| Aug | 6.6% |
| Sep | 15.4% |
| Oct | 10.1% |
| Nov | 7.4% |
| Dec | 5.3% |
August and December were the lowest months for course enrolment
The pattern seen in LMS logins is closely mirrored in course enrolments.
August and December once again appear at the bottom of the table, with December recording the lowest enrolment rate of the year.
This consistency suggests that low engagement during these months is not limited to platform usage alone.
Learners are not just logging in less; they are actively postponing learning commitments. This makes these months less suitable for launching new courses or large-scale learning initiatives.
June and September were the highest months for course enrolment
June and September emerge as the strongest months for course enrolment.
June appears to benefit from mid-year reviews and planning, where learning is often linked to performance and development discussions.
September then builds on this momentum, becoming the most popular month for learners to start new courses.
For learning teams, these months represent ideal opportunities to launch flagship content, promote new programs, or run targeted enrolment campaigns.
Course completions follows a similar trend to user logins
When we examined course completions, we found a pattern that closely aligns with LMS login behaviour.
Completion rates are strongest in September and October, coinciding with higher engagement and enrolment earlier in the quarter.
August again shows the weakest performance, reflecting lower learner availability and focus.
This suggests that when learners are more engaged with the LMS overall, they are also more likely to follow through and complete learning, rather than abandoning courses partway through.
| Month | Course completions (%) |
| Jan | 7.8% |
| Feb | 7.3% |
| Mar | 7.9% |
| Apr | 6.8% |
| May | 7.4% |
| Jun | 8.1% |
| Jul | 8.3% |
| Aug | 5.9% |
| Sep | 12.4% |
| Oct | 11.3% |
| Nov | 8.5% |
| Dec | 8.2% |
In an interesting twist: completion rates stay high in December
And if we overlay this in comparison to enrolment rates, December shows a 49.7% completion rate — the highest of any month.
| Jan | 31.7% |
| Feb | 35.7% |
| Mar | 37.1% |
| Apr | 30.9% |
| May | 35.1% |
| Jun | 20.6% |
| Jul | 36.6% |
| Aug | 28.5% |
| Sep | 25.8% |
| Oct | 35.9% |
| Nov | 36.9% |
| Dec | 49.7% |
This suggests a very specific behavior pattern where learners aren’t starting many new courses in December but those who are enrolled are finishing what they’ve already begun.
End-of-year deadlines, compliance requirements, or a desire to “clear the deck” before the new year may be driving this spike.
For L&D teams, this makes December an ideal month to:
- Promote course completion
- Run “finish what you started” campaigns
- Focus on reminders rather than new launches
What this all means for learning teams
This data reinforces a crucial truth: learning engagement isn’t random.
It follows predictable patterns shaped by seasons, business cycles, and human behaviour. The most successful learning teams don’t fight these patterns, they plan around them.
Key takeaways:
- Expect lower engagement in August and December and plan lighter activity
- Invest heavily in Q1 to build early momentum
- Leverage June and September for major launches and campaigns
- Use December to drive completions, not enrolments
When learning aligns with when people are ready, engagement follows naturally.