How CCBED is breaking down barriers to learning with Assessment and Learning (bksb)

The challenge

CCBED supports people with a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences and start points. Many have struggled in traditional educational environments, while others face practical challenges that make regular attendance difficult.

Access can also be limited by wider structural factors. Those working shifts, particularly within healthcare settings, often struggle to attend courses on fixed schedules. Others face transport barriers or fall into funding gaps that reduce access to formal educational provision.

Reflecting on those who struggle to access traditional provision, Sarah says:

"There's a massive amount of people that fall into that; they just fall off the cliff."

Alongside the challenge of reaching these groups, CCBED must also satisfy funding requirements by demonstrating each learner's start point and progress over time. This requires a reliable approach to initial and diagnostic assessment that can identify individual learning needs while providing evidence of development.

To support these learners effectively, CCBED needed a solution capable of delivering flexible, accessible and personalised learning at scale.

What made the difference

For Sarah Hayler, Assessment and Learning (bksb) has consistently stood out over 15 years of use across multiple organisations, including Bristol City Council, Western College, City of Bristol College and Ashley Housing.

A key factor is the platform's accessibility. Sarah highlights its ease of use for both learners and tutors, including those with limited digital confidence.

Sarah believes the platform's simplicity is one of the reasons it works so well for her learner groups:

"You haven't got to be a huge tech and digital savvy person to be able to access the platform."

The platform's inclusive design has also proven particularly valuable for neurodiverse learners. The ability to adjust screen settings, layouts and fonts allows individuals to tailor the learning environment to their needs.

In addition, mobile access has become increasingly important as learning habits evolve. The ability for learners to access learning materials from a smartphone makes it easier to fit study around work, family and travel commitments.

Assessment and Learning (bksb) enables genuinely personalised learning journeys. Initial and diagnostic assessments identify precise skills gaps, allowing learners to focus on the areas where support is needed most rather than following a generic programme.

Progress is automatically saved, allowing learners to pick up where they left off and maintain momentum in their learning journey.

Having used the platform across a wide range of providers and learner groups, Sarah remains a strong advocate:

"I love Assessment and Learning (bksb). I'm one of your biggest fans."

Supporting learners others might miss

One of the biggest benefits CCBED sees from Assessment and Learning (bksb) is its ability to extend learning opportunities beyond the traditional classroom.

Through flexible remote delivery and self-paced learning, the organisation can support people whose circumstances make attendance at a college campus difficult, including shift workers, learners with childcare responsibilities and those living in areas with limited transport links.

The platform also helps address gaps in wider provision. Sarah highlighted the challenges faced by some 18 to 19-year-olds who fall between school and adult education funding arrangements. In some cases, learners are able to continue developing their English and maths skills independently through Assessment and Learning (bksb) while working towards future qualifications.

Combined with personalised diagnostics and learning plans, this enables CCBED to provide learners with an individualised route to progression, regardless of their current attainment level.

Importantly, the platform provides the assessment evidence and reporting needed to demonstrate learners' start points and progress, supporting both quality processes and funding requirements.

These improvements are helping CCBED advance several key priorities:

• Accessibility - widening participation among learners who face educational, geographical or personal barriers
• Personalisation - creating individual learning pathways based on identified skills gaps
• Flexibility - supporting remote and self-paced learning that fits around learners' lives
• Efficiency - reducing tutor marking requirements through automated assessment and reporting