National training and colleges group NCG looks to broaden opportunities for students with Capita

NCG has undertaken a major overhaul of its IT systems to drive efficiency and ensure best practice can be identified and shared more easily across the group. 

The move helps the group provide greater educational and financial autonomy to its eight existing further education and training institutions and makes it easier to broaden the range of opportunities available to students. Following a detailed and thorough procurement process, the group chose Capita’s UNIT-e management information system.

Mark Breadner, chief information officer at NCG, said: “The geographical and educational diversity of our institutions is one of the group’s key strengths. We wanted one system that would provide the flexibility our institutions need to retain their individual ethos and identity whilst enabling us to access the data we need to spot trends and identify areas for growth. UNIT-e ticked all the boxes and offered excellent value for money in comparison to other solutions on the market.”

The new system offers colleges a range of options for managing their provision, including students enrolling online, which helps individual institutions to speed up their processes and improve the student experience. Additionally, having access to real-time information on students’ attendance and achievement will help ensure that both academic staff and senior leaders can make informed decisions to manage funding, staff and facilities more efficiently and effectively.  

NCG are able to use the system to monitor the growth of its honours and masters degree awarding programme, helping to strengthen the group’s position as a key higher education provider.

Karen Reece, head of Capita Further and Higher Education, said: “When you are responsible for the running of multiple institutions, each charged with delivering educational excellence, good data management is essential – you also need a strategic view of provision. We are delighted that NCG has chosen UNIT-e and look forward to building on the warm and trusted relationship that has already developed to support its continued success.”