At the recent AoC Examinations Officers' Conference, Capita’s Product Manager, Adrian Kilburn, gave a keynote presentation on the progress which has been made over the last year on the campaign to restructure the electronic data transfer processes between colleges and awarding bodies.
Capita has led this campaign since first raising the issue at the 2008 conference and publishing a paper on the problems which colleges experience. That paper in effect became a petition to the awarding bodies and relevant government agencies for radical change, with well in excess of 150 staff from over 100 colleges (plus the other major MIS suppliers) all expressing agreement that the sector does not have an EDI system fit for the 21st century.
Over the last year a number of strands of activity have developed with the greatest progress being achieved by the Information Authority. In the spring of 2008 they had undertaken a survey of the sector to ascertain what the main data burdens were (ie after the ILR). This research had identified two main issues: the audit of student records and the administration of examinations. Whilst the consultant’s report had outlined the exams issues in their main report, they went on to provide an appendix which contained a full copy of Capita’s 2008 paper.
Following the formal publication of their findings, the IA has progressed the issue along a number of routes (detailed, amongst others, in the update paper below) with this culminating in a recent with meeting between DCSF, DIUS, Ofqual, JCQ and FAB where agreement in principle was reached on the creation of a new common data standard.
In the 12 months that have followed the initial presentation, we are pleased to report that progress is being made and that our, and the whole sector’s, objective of an EDI system suitable for the 21st century might yet become a reality.