What our clients say
To what extent did the inclusion of actors in this learning session's process increase the effectiveness of your learning experience?
(This is the total response from all participants in all programmes
from the founding of the company in 2008 up to September 2025.)
Testimonial
Real Learning has a unique ability to cut across cultural boundaries to create inclusive, enjoyable environments that support strong group dynamics from the outset. Whether it’s a dedicated team-building day, a simulation exercise or part of a wider induction programme, their work has become a valued part of our academic calendar.
I would highly recommend Real Learning to any Higher Education Institute seeking to enhance student engagement, teamwork, and community building through impactful and well-designed experiences.”
“For over five years, Real Learning has been my trusted partner in delivering outstanding Orientation Week experiences for MSc students and highly engaging MBA programme workshops. What sets Real Learning apart is their bespoke, co-creation approach. Ivan works closely with us to understand our learning objectives and then tailors the offering to ensure it is meaningful and impactful. Ciarán and the professional actors bring sessions vividly to life, our students are fully immersed, actively learning, and genuinely enthusiastic. Most importantly, the feedback from our students is glowing. The Real Learning session is always their highlight of their Orientation Week, affording them the opportunity to connect with their new classmates and start their Masters journey energised, confident and equipped with real skills to succeed in Team settings.
It’s always a pleasure to work with the Real Learning team; their responsiveness, attention to detail, and dedication to excellent delivery have made them indispensable to our programmes. I couldn’t recommend them more highly.”
“Working with Real Learning has been a refreshing experience. They took the time to understand the learning objectives of our programme and they have been forthcoming with relevant and useful ideas and alternatives. What I found outstanding about working with Real Learning is their precision and their ability to fit in seamlessly with the programme. Testimonial to that is that participants’ feedback highlighting how the use of real actors for role-play has had a profound impact on the learning.”
I would highly recommend Real Learning.”
Dr. Brian Harney
Lecturer in HRM at Dublin City University and Academic Fellow, Centre for International HRM, University of Cambridge.
Derek Fox
Managing Director of DF Leap Training Solutions
BIS Placement Manager and Lecturer, School of Business, MTU
Catherine Murphy
Real Learning's partnership approach is professional, the experience thoroughly enjoyable, and the impact (as evidenced by students feedback) most valuable.
The level of service we receive from Real Learning is second to none, true professionalism from actors that deliver above and beyond expectations.
We worked with Real Learning on interview role plays for our BIS placement students. It's a transformative way to teach interview skills. Total professionals and a pleasure to work with. Thanks Real Learning.
Programme participant
Irish Management Institute (IMI)
Programme participant
TCD Business School
Irish Management Institute (IMI)
Programme participant
The actors were a great addition to the day - impartial and professional - it wouldn't have been as effective without them.
In my opinion, this worked exceptionally well as the actors were well briefed. I actually began to believe they really were CEOs and Sales Leaders. Excellent actors.
Role-playing was a brilliant way to give practical application to the theory.
MHRM Student
DCU Business School
MHRM Student
DCU Business School
Financial Services
Programme participant
The actor added a great deal to my learning experience.
I feel the inclusion of the actor made the whole experience much more realistic and would resemble a real life appraisal much more clearly than the same exercise with my peers.
[The actors] were excellent. [They] gave very good feedback after role-play and gave an understanding of the effect things we say actually have on the customer.
Programme participant
TCD Business School
Programme participant
Financial Services
Financial Services
Programme participant
I thought the interaction and responses of the actors to generate thought and real-life complexity was great.
Made the role-play feel like real life. [The actors] know their stuff [and] showed different ways to respond.
We had valid feedback from the perspective of the customer - which is something we have never had.
Programme participant
Irish Management Institute (IMI)
Programme participant
Enterprise Ireland
DAA
Programme participant
I couldn't have imagined how real or useful this exercise was. It certainly surpassed my expectations.
It brought the learning to life - not just a training workshop. We will remember the key learning points.
The actors were a brilliant addition to a great class.
Made it feel real. I soon forgot it was a role-play as it felt like actual experience.
Irish Management Institute (IMI)
Programme participant
I can’t speak highly enough of their ingenuity, creativity and adaptability.
They have a wonderfully transformative ability to lift their audiences out of their comfort zone and into a safe space where they can challenge themselves, learn about themselves and have fun while doing so!”
“I can’t say enough about how Real Learning has enriched the student experience on the Trinity MBA. Real Learning has delivered workshops within taught modules, at launches of team projects, and they played a key role during induction – and they’ve delivered effectively both on and off-line. Real Learning delivers high quality workshops that actively engage students – students don’t passively absorb information, but instead, with the use of actors, students actively learn key skills that are essential for the role of managers today. Rather than delivering an off-the-shelf solution, we co-create workshops that are tailored to our students and learning environment. Real Learning goes above and beyond expectations to create a bespoke experience for our students that makes sense in the context of the rest of the programme. Finally, it is a pleasure to work with Ivan and Ciarán, and the rest of the actors. They are responsive, quick to provide feedback and/or make adjustments, and provide a superior level of customer service.”
From the time we first experimented with drama-based learning to the position today in which drama-based skills development features in many of our Business School programmes, Real Learning has been our trusted partner on this journey.
The Real Learning team has consistently gone well beyond providing highly skilled and committed actors by engaging with individual faculty members before and after each learning event to fully understand the leaning goals and co-create relevant content. Their professionalism in gathering feedback from each event and using this to drive continuous improvement is exemplary. I have no hesitation in recommending Real Learning to anyone seeking a partner in this space.”