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SCL invests in software from Advanced
Press //29-01-2015

SCL invests in software from Advanced

by Doug Hargrove, Managing Director - Legal and Education

Advanced branch out into new market – with first training provider customer

SCL Education & Training Limited (SCL) has reduced manual administration by one day per week and is able to monitor and improve business performance more accurately and efficiently, since deploying training and course management technology from Advanced.

SCL has recently gone live with a suite of solutions to centralise its programme and learner information as part of its overall strategy to become a Grade 1 Ofsted provider.

SCL is one of the UK’s leading independent providers of education through sport and each year educates and develops the skills of more than 1,800 young adults,  in partnership with sports clubs, employers, sixth form and further education colleges, through study programmes, traineeships and apprenticeships. The company currently employs 150 full time staff, located at its 50 training venues and central support office.

SCL will use a suite of Advanced's solutions to manage every aspect of the courses and programmes it offers from learner enrolment onwards. ProSuite holds learner records, timetables, registers and exam details and ProVerify is used to manage the external verification of courses, such as Ofsted reports. ProPortal provides learners and parents, with online access to progress reports and course information, including personalised timetables, on devices including tablets and smartphones.

Lewis Field, Co-Founder and Managing Director of SCL, comments: “By investing in the single centralised system from Advanced, we are now able to access key data simply and quickly, improve transparency and gain further insight into how our business is performing.

“In addition, we are also able to provide learners and parents with online access to course information, progress reports and personalised timetables. All of which enables us to improve both our day-to-day and longer-term performance and enhance the learner experience. Ultimately this will help us to achieve our overall goal of being an Ofsted Grade 1 provider.

“Since implementing the software we have increased our operational efficiency by reducing our reliance on multiple spreadsheets and paper documents. Our management team now has complete visibility of every area of the business and gathering information for management, funding providers and Ofsted has been streamlined. 

“Previously, this was a highly time-consuming manual process which involved collating data held by staff at different locations. Now, everything is in one place, and reports that used to take hours can now be produced in minutes due to the flexibility of the system.” 

SCL staff will use ProObserve to record and analyse lesson observations which form the basis of staff appraisals and ProMonitor, a student monitoring and support system will replace paper-based individual learning plans (ILPs), contributing to the company’s efficiency savings and green agenda.

Previously staff at SCL’s delivery venues each worked on their own spreadsheets to manually create reports using their own information. Now that data, such as attendance, enrolment, leavers, qualifications, is centrally held online, making it available to everyone and automating the reporting process.

The company is also looking to implement ProSAR to improve the self-assessment reporting process, which is key for Ofsted reports.

Advanced competed with two other businesses to secure the contract, which marks the software provider’s debut in the training provider sector.

Field continues, "Products from Advanced are of a high standard and they have listened to us in order to adapt the solutions to our needs. The support and after-sales care we receive is every bit as good as it is at sales point. The solutions are user friendly and our administration team has become more efficient as a result of using them.” 

Andy Makeham, a Divisional Managing Director at Advanced says, “The unique customer support structure of Advanced allows customers to speak directly to our software developers, which helps them deliver the right support quickly and effectively.”

Advanced have a range of innovative IT solutions including ProSuite, a success, retention and achievement analysis system used by 90% of colleges in England.

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Doug Hargrove

Doug Hargrove

PUBLISHED BY

Managing Director - Legal and Education

Doug joined Advanced in 2013 via an acquisition, and brings over 25 years of senior management experience in software companies in the UK and globally.

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