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All courses are bespoke but examples of past programmes are as shown below:
All sessions are led by Edward Drake or Phil Neath, former senior managers in FE with recognised expertise in FE funding issues. Both have run a large number of very successful sessions for a wide range of FE organisations including general FE, tertiary, specialist and sixth form colleges, plus HEI's, EI's, awarding bodies and auditors.
The cost of a one day on-site course is £750 plus expenses and VAT - less than the cost of sending only 4 delegates to a typical conference style event (half days or multiple days subject to negotiation). What our clients say
Changes to the LSC's funding methodology have made it more important than ever to plan the College's curriculum effectively and efficiently - what has worked well in the past may not work well in the future! Drake Lane Associates' Curriculum Efficiency Review addresses a wide range of planning variables in order to highlight:
All reviews also include comprehensive data checks to ensure that the underlying information is valid and that the maximum available funding is claimed.spite the continuing requirement to achieve year-on-year efficiency gains, many colleges continue to operate with little or no facility for monitoring the efficiency of curriculum delivery and other key business functions. Curriculum Efficiency Review has the potential to bring MASSIVE financial gains to your college. Failure to identify and address curriculum inefficiencies could result in losses of a similar magnitude! Drake Lane Associates Ltd can provide a comprehensive review of existing and planned curriculum provision, identifying courses which are not paying their way and highlighting the reasons why. Curriculum efficiency can be assessed at any level from individual course/qualifications to programme areas/departments, and can be presented in a historical context to establish trends over time. Further analyses can also be undertaken to establish a range of key costs, benchmarking any number of variables against respective funding. Again, trends can be assessed providing essential management information on which to plan future budgeting and resourcing. Efficiency is a key element in ensuring the long term financial stability of colleges, as well as being of prime interest from an external accountability perspective. If you don't measure efficiency, how can you achieve it? Funding optimisation / ILR health checks Claiming funding to the maximum that you are entitled is a must in the current climate. Equally, ensuring the accuracy of the college's ILR submission is essential in order to provide confidence in management reporting and to minimise the risks associated with external audits. Drake Lane Associates Ltd can provide enhanced validation of college ILRs to identify inaccuracies and inconsistencies which may understate (or overstate) funding claims. In our experience it is the exception, rather than the rule, to find an ILR / funding claim which could be described as being "clean", despite any supposed reassurances offered by LSC validation software. You may also be interested in our SCORE software which allows colleges to proactively undertake much of the above work for themselves. Interim MIS / audit management Most colleges, at some stage, have to face the prospect of losing a key member of their staff. In an area such as MIS, the specialist knowledge required to manage extremely demanding audit and reporting requirements presents a significant risk when key personnel are no longer there. Drake Lane Associates Ltd can provide interim management within MIS to limit this risk and to maintain (and often improve) levels of internal and external service. Based on many years' first hand experience as MIS Managers in FE our consultants are well equipped to hit the ground running. Our experience covers a large number of colleges including general FE, tertiary, sixth form and specialist colleges, and an increasing understanding of a range of MIS software systems. General MIS management support With the significant increases in MIS workload in recent years many colleges have, at some point, found themselves struggling to meet internal and external reporting and audit deadlines. Whether it be providing technical expertise, specialist knowledge or simply acting as another pair of hands, Drake Lane Associates can help you cope. We have undertaken a wide range of roles in this capacity including reviewing audit controls, production of key performance indicators, development of management reporting systems, MIS work scheduling and preparation for FEFC Inspection. Whilst there will be an obvious temptation to view any external support as being a cost, our firm aim is to ensure that money is saved in the long run by improving MIS service within the college and by moving away from the perpetual fire-fighting scenario which is so often seen in FE.
In line with the LSC's Quality Improvement strategy, Drake Lane Associates Ltd offers a range of workshops intended to identify and share good practice. Wherever possible the sessions are very much hands-on with the emphasis being on discussing the practical implications of ideas rather than simply dissemination of "text-book" generalisations. Subjects addressed will be dependant on current developments but examples may cover …
A full list of planned workshops will be available here. |
