Kirkwall Polytechnic · 9,400 students
Turned a two-month HESA return into a validated overnight extract
Block-release timetabling, employer partner records and statutory reporting moved onto one platform, freeing a senior analyst and making placement data defensible.
Results
Measured outcomes
- analyst time on statutory reporting
- −94%
- faster financial aid processing
- 30%
- outcome reporting completeness
- 94%
- employer partners under management
- 340
Challenge
Where they started
- Block release and day release patterns did not fit the legacy semester scheduler, so timetables were maintained in Excel.
- Placement contacts lived in individual coordinators’ inboxes; two retirements cost the institute 60 employer relationships.
- The HESA return consumed two months of a senior analyst assembling departmental spreadsheets.
- SLC attendance confirmation was reconstructed retroactively from register photocopies.
Approach
What they did
- 01
Modeled real academic patterns first
Block, day release and apprenticeship off-the-job hours were configured before any data migrated.
- 02
Consolidated 340 employer partners
Departmental contact lists became one governed employer record with placements and advisory seats attached.
- 03
Ran statutory extracts in parallel
HESA and SLC submissions ran alongside the manual process for one full cycle before cutover.
- 04
Published outcomes to program leads
Placement rate, employer and salary band dashboards went to the staff who design curriculum.