Each year, the DCSF publishes performance tables – the Achievement and attainment Tables (AAT) – which provides comparative performance information for schools, colleges and Local Authorities in England. The AAT are the lynch pin of the Government’s Accountability Framework for schools and as such, provide the only source of accurate, comparative information on schools and colleges and help drive up standards in education. Publication of the AATs always attracts considerable media attention.
RM Data Solutions has been responsible for processing the DCSF’s Performance Tables data since 1993 with the latest renewal to our contract in 2005. This most recent renewal – in conjunction with our holding company RM and FFT - has seen a huge growth in the volume of data being processed and alignment with the Department’s goal to improve further the already high degree of data accuracy. This work is extremely complex with data being provided from over 50 different data suppliers, relating to 8 million students and 21,000 schools. Our work involves checking accuracy of records with all schools in England, collating over 10 million examination results as well as provision of a helpdesk renowned for its level of service.
The key benefit for the NPDAAT team in awarding the work to RM Data Solutions was flexibility. The DCSF needed a partner that could adapt as its needs and policy requirements and have an in depth understanding of schools, and be able to ‘translate’ detailed technical information so that it could be communicated to schools and Ministers alike.
By the department’s own admission England has world beating data on every pupil and their progress. This status has been achieved in no small part with the excellent partnership of the Department, RM Data Solutions and RM.
The key deliverables for the RM, RM Data Solutions and FFT consortium through the latest contract will be to integrate the various processing systems even more tightly together so that reporting and usage of the data by the department and education community in general can be utilised even more effectively to improve the outcomes for every child in the country. RM Data Solutions are certain that the excellent working relationship built up over 20 years of partnership will ensure that this will be achieved.
Do you have an annual data collection exercise? Contact us to find how we could help you.
|