Edinburgh College Rapid Improvement Event Jonny Pearson Head of Health, Wellbeing & Social Sciences

Edinburgh College  Jewell & Esk College; Stevenson College Edinburgh; Edinburgh’s Telford College  4 Campuses  8 Curriculum ‘Centres’  26,000 students  254,000 wSums

Health, Wellbeing & Social Sciences  Six Curricular Areas:  Childhood Practice, English, Communications & Highers; Health & Social Care; Health & Veterinary Professions; Social Sciences; Sport & Fitness  300 staff  5,000 students  26% of the total wSums (credits)

Health, Wellbeing and Social Sciences  Target of 5,120 students  Over 14,000 applications  Over 8,000 interviews  4,000 students started in August 2014  70% applications unsuccessful! Recruitment

Health, Wellbeing & Social Sciences  A Rapid Improvement Event is where a multi-level, multi-disciplinary, multi- area team (representing the whole of the area being tackled) comes together for an intense week to develop new and better ways of working that will benefit all stakeholders in the organisation.  The RIE process is very inclusive and gives everyone likely to be impacted by the event a chance to share any concerns and comment on any proposed new ways of working before they are finalised Action – Rapid Improvement Event

Rapid Improvement Event  “To create a unified, efficient, effective, and equitable student focused approach to the application process at Edinburgh College ” From Enquiry to Enrolment

Rapid Improvement Event  Select Project Sponsor  Select Project Lead  Identify key areas for involvement  Select Project Management Team  Select Project Team Process

Rapid Improvement Event  Project Team made up of 24 staff  Removed from their ‘day-jobs’ for a week (29 th September – 3 rd October)  The process  Intensive / Demanding / Challenging / Rewarding Overview

Rapid Improvement Event  Applications  Communication – Internal & External  Recruitment  Systems Findings

Rapid Improvement Event  We have introduced a new, Edinburgh College application process which is Student focused, efficient, effective and equitable  We have developed and introduced Inception. This is a one shop stop for all course information for all courses – This ensures consistency of information for all applicants  We have developed and introduced a CRM to enable capture of all enquirer details to facilitate pro-active communication with applicants – This enables us to store applicant details and proactively contact applicants  We have re-aligned the Student Records teams to streamline process and remove waste and use staff resource more efficiently – This ensures efficient, better informed advice to applicants with student records teams having ‘ownership’ of curriculum areas  We have introduced a new, user-friendly web site which works seamlessly with Inception and the CRM – This will prevent applicants from applying for courses for which they are ineligible Outcomes

 We have developed better marketing materials and provided clearer course information (stored on Inception, owned and updated by curriculum managers) – These will reduce the number of wasted applications and rejections  We have introduced clear eligibility criteria for each courses which is published on the website – These will reduce the number of rejections  We have identified clear minimum entry criteria for each course which is published on the website These Will reduce the number of rejections  We have introduced new categorisation of all courses: Recruiting (no interview required) and Selecting (interview required) – This will reduce the number of pointless interviews and groundless rejections  We have established course application open and closing dates (02/02/15 – 15/05/15) – This will enable all applications to be administered before the summer holidays Outcomes

 We have removed academic review and replaced it with ‘enhanced sense check’ – this will enable student records staff to review all applications and speed up the process  We have updated and improved automated correspondence with applicants during application process – These will give applicants clear, concise guidelines and regular communication throughout the process  We have designed and introduced clear procedures and mechanisms for monitoring course interest and applications during the application process – This tool will facilitate a more ‘fluid’ curriculum offer i.e. remove and replace under-recruiting courses by giving live data to CM’s  We have established clear procedures for managing applications during this time – These will facilitate consistent communication with applicants and reduce waste  We have developed clear procedures for implementing curriculum change during this time These will facilitate (through the supply of live data) the implementation of the curriculum review process on a market needs basis Outcomes

 We have established clear timelines and responsibility for each part of the process – This will make the process more efficient and more applicant focused  A commitment to inform every applicant of the outcome of their application no later than Friday 26 th June – This will avoid applicants waiting for 100 days to find out if they are successful or not Outcomes