upGrad records 65,000+ Graduates in CY2023; enrollments continue to soar

Chandigarh, January 9, 2024: upGrad, one of Asia’s largest integrated learning, skilling, and workforce development majors witnessed a record-breaking 65,668 graduates in 2023. Out of the total, 22,000+ completed the long format courses and nearly 44,000 learners were a part of its own-branded certification portfolio encompassing Agile Methodology, Project management, DevOps, Cloud Computing, Blockchain etc. The long-format portfolio includes university-led higher education and upskilling programs. Interestingly, the total number of women enrolments within this segment rose to 40% in the same year, making courses in Digital Marketing, HR, and Data Science their top picks.

As per upGrad Insights, long-format courses remained popular amongst mid-career professionals with 4-10 years of work experience while freshers and early professionals with 0-3 years mostly relied on certifications for instant skill-up. The company’s dedication to making upskilling a mainstream phenomenon is evident in the growing numbers, as seen in a 55% increase in enrollments for Machine Learning courses during the July-August-September quarter of the same year from 2022. It further demonstrates the rising demand for AI-ready talent.

On average every quarter 330+ women professionals with 10+ years of work experience have enrolled for upskilling courses, demonstrating the necessity to stay updated in times when job specs seem to be evolving at a breakneck pace. As per upGrad’s marquee India Career Upskilling Report which surveyed over 3500 urban professionals, 2 out of 3 people who upskilled were parents. Despite their parenting duties and work pressure, parents believed and invested in upskilling.

“Wider acceptance of continuous learning has encouraged Indian professionals to understand market needs and upskill for stronger career growth. We’ve also noticed interesting variations in their learning patterns and preferences, strengthening our commitment to creating more market-ready offerings for a scalable economy. Although it's an eventual transition, nearly 30% of our QoQ enrolments on average come from Tier 2 & 3 cities, signifying the gradual adoption. We closed 2023 on a very high note and this year will only accelerate our commitment to impacting a bigger learner base while also supporting GOI in powering India’s online learning infrastructure and nation-building,” concluded Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and MD, upGrad.

The current year’s development also marks a 6.5x jump from the previous calendar year, significantly contributing to upGrad’s YoY growth trajectory.