20 July 2026
Synergy Learning customers win two awards at Totara Awards 2026
Two of Synergy Learning’s customers won awards for their learning management systems at the Totara Customer Awards 2026
The LMS we delivered for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service won the gold award for Best Compliance Experience, while the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust secured the silver award for Most Impactful Project.
“These award-winning projects show what’s possible when organisations combine clear business objectives with customisable technology,” said Matt Linaker, Totara’s Head of Advocacy and Insight.
Both LMS projects were rewarded for the real-world results they’ve achieved for the organisations and the communities they serve.

See Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s LMS in action
LMS supports amazing knowledge retention
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service worked with us to create a compliance training LMS that delivers critical training to firefighters and other staff. The LMS has achieved impressive outcomes, including 85% knowledge retention of the crucial National Operational Guidance (NOG) mandatory training.
“We were amazed when we came back with a knowledge retention rate of 85%,” said Steve Wass, NFRS’s E-Learning Lead. “I’d be quite happy with that at lunchtime in a face-to-face training session, never mind 30 months later in e-learning!”
Training completed on the organisation’s flexible, customised Totara LMS has also increased the amount of time staff can dedicate to frontline firefighting. Steve praised the LMS support we provided for its role in helping the project achieve its goals.
He continued: “We were impressed with the flexibility and the level of consultancy that Synergy Learning was able to provide. They were able to understand our requirements and create a user-friendly learning portal for staff, and one that we can amend and be comfortable using without having to go back for minor changes.”
H5P content drives positive learning experiences
It was a similar story for fellow winners Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, whose Wetland Learning Hub Project Officer, Marie Schlenker, pinpointed the LMS consultancy sessions we delivered as being key to the project’s success.
“I’m very happy,” she said. “Synergy Learning have been really helpful. It was nice to have consulting calls at the start and opportunities to ask questions.”
The learning hub was created to increase conservation knowledge, develop a wider understanding of wetland management strategies and share conservation best practices globally. It delivered on those targets in spectacular style, with 100% of learners who used the LMS saying it had a positive impact on their knowledge of wetland conservation.
Those results have been driven by the use of engaging H5P learning content. WWT’s learners reported that the Wetland Learning Hub’s learning content sets it apart from previous e-learning experiences.

See WWT’S LMS in action
Expert Totara LMS know-how

Jonny McAlister
Head of Customer Experience
The awards recognise Synergy Learning’s expertise in deploying Totara learning platforms to help organisations achieve their business goals.
Synergy Learning’s Head of Customer Experience, Jonny McAlister, said: “We were delighted to partner with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust on their awardwinning learning platforms.
“These awards show what’s possible when great organisations, the right platform and the right partner come together with a shared focus on improving learning and delivering meaningful outcomes.
“Alongside our recent Global Partner of the Year and Marketing Impact Totara awards, it’s been a fantastic year for Synergy Learning and one we are proud to celebrate with our customers.”
Synergy Learning have been top-tier Totara Partners since 2011, delivering more than 150 Totara learning management systems in that time. It’s a partnership that is continuing to grow in strength.
We’ve delivered large-scale and enterprise Totara learning platforms to help our partners engage thousands of learners and meet evolving business needs. To achieve that, we provide a range of supporting services for the Totara projects we work on. These include:
✳️ Totara consultancy and strategy
As Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust both acknowledge, we share expert advice and LMS training to ensure your Totara LMS and the strategy underpinning it are optimised to support your business goals.
✳️ Multi-tenant learning environments
We create multiple customised and branded Totara learning management systems that are configured to mirror complex organisational structures, while maintaining central governance, reporting and access control within a single platform.
✳️ Spark LMS theme
Available exclusively to Synergy Learning customers, Spark brings extended functionality, increased branding options and unique features to your LMS without the expense of developing a custom Totara theme.
✳️ Compliance and audit readiness
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s module completion rate of more than 95% contributes significantly to the organisation achieving its compliance targets. By building compliance goals into the strategy at the start of Totara projects, we help you develop automated recertification workflows, mandatory training management and in-depth reporting that supports you in meeting your regulatory requirements.
✳️ Engaging Totara content
Working with off-the-shelf learning content or custom-made Totara content, we guide customers towards engaging content that gets the right results. Our Core Content library helps you to close content gaps with high-quality, interactive compliance and sector-specific modules.
✳️ Maximising LMS accessibility
We help organisations ensure that their Totara LMS is accessible to all learners. To achieve this, we craft learning management systems that comply with WCAG 2.1, EAA and other accessibility standards. This improves accessibility and engagement, while also easing legal, ethical and usability pressures.
Learn more about our award winning Totara LMS projects
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
Explore the full case study to see how Synergy Learning supported Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service to create a mobile-friendly e-learning platform that improved learner retention by 85%.
Wildfowl and Westland Trust
Find out how Synergy Learning supported WWT to build an e-learning hub to aid in the fight against the climate crisis.
Explore our Totara LMS experience
Take a look at some of the other Totara LMS projects we’ve worked on, or book a meeting with one of our Totara experts to discuss the results we could help your organisation achieve.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
Explore the full case study to see how Synergy Learning supported Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service to create a mobile-friendly e-learning platform that improved learner retention by 85%.
Read the case studyWildfowl and Westland Trust
Find out how Synergy Learning supported WWT to build an e-learning hub to aid in the fight against the climate crisis.
Read the case studyExplore our Totara LMS experience
Take a look at some of the other Totara LMS projects we’ve worked on, or book a meeting with one of our Totara experts to discuss the results we could help your organisation achieve.
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