CASE STUDY: Burton and South Derbyshire College

Burton and South Derbyshire College

Download the Burton and South Derbyshire College Case Study

THE CHALLENGE:

Build capacity in the college Work Experience programme.

Burton and South Derbyshire College had a target for the 2018/2019 year of 90 students each completing 315 hours of Industry Placements. The following year they needed to double their Industry Placement capacity
while also running their Work Experience programme for an additional 1800 learners.

With only 5 staff members on the Work Experience team, this increase in workload was going to be a challenge. The college knew they needed to move their placement management process into the digital realm to keep costs down and ensure the process was as efficient as possible. The old-fashioned paper timecards, which were constantly lost and coming back unsigned, needed to be upgraded to a digital version.

Burton and South Derbyshire College

THE SOLUTION:

Move placement management into the digital age with Grofar.

Logging hours and experience on the student mobile app

Increasing capacity of the Work Experience programme meant a large increase in the amount of student tracking required. The college knew Grofar’s digital time sheets, that are emailed and electronically verified by employers online, were the ideal solution in reducing the amount of time their team spends contacting employers and chasing up pieces of paper. Another significant benefit to the team was the fact that Grofar syncs with their MIS system and provides all staff members within the college visibility of each student’s placement and its progress.

Implementing Grofar has provided learners with the ability to easily reflect on their experiences during placements using the student app. Staff can monitor the progress of placements and activity logged in real time; they now have clear visibility of student progress towards their targets.

Employers also have visibility of student targets and as a result are much better placed to support the students as they work towards each one. Visible targets facilitate positive conversations between the employer and student, driving the quality of the placement.

“Grofar is a great software system that really works as we need it to and is helping us to ensure we can build capacity in our Work Experience & Industry Placement programme. The team at Grofar are always very open to new ideas and making sure the platform caters to our specific needs. We’re impressed with their positive approach and availability to support us whenever we need them.”

Rob Goodyer
Head of Business Development and Employability

Find out how the Grofar Work Placement Platform can benefit your College.