Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe research into the requirements, practice and prospects for the field of learning design and provide the findings of this study to date alongside early recommendations for furthering the profession in the UK. Design/methodology/approach: The paper describes the findings of a review of the literature on learning design and the study's research methodology, which comprises focus groups, an online questionnaire deployed for use in the UK, North America, Australia, telephone interviews, and surveys of higher education programmes. Findings: Initial analysis of the data indicates that learning design professionalisation and training in the UK are behind those found in other areas of the world. Research limitations/implications: The research was of an exploratory nature and thus limited. However, it shows that additional research into distinct aspects of learning design is required to explore further phenomena described in this paper. Practical implications: The findings suggest that more and appropriate training opportunities are required for UK learning designers. This could be supplemented by further professionalisation of the field. Originality/value: Key aspects are revealed in the paper of the learning design field in the UK where development is required in order to place learning design on a par with the field in other countries. These findings should be of interest to learning designers, the institutions that train them, their employers and those that use their services. (Contains 5 figures.)