Exam Procurement – West Midlands SFC Exam

Efficiency Consortium

Dr. Esther Maughan, Principal King Edward VI College, Nuneaton

Mrs Nicky Burden, Exam Officer

King Edward VI College, Nuneaton

Improved Value for Money

on Exam Procurement

In the West Midlands

The Bid was put forward to AoC and 157 Group’s Collaboration and

Shared Services Grant. Memorandums & Articles of Association were drawn up between the

group. Having initially got the group off the ground other colleges then tried

to join, however during the bid process the numbers were limited to the initial 5

FE Sussex were brought into the project to act as a consultancy very early on to get the project off the ground, by utilising the skills & contact of Tim Stickland. It became apparent that without a Project Lead the project was at risk as there would be no one to drive the project forward.

11 Colleges were initially invited to participate in a bid to obtain funding for Exam Procurement. 4 responses were received and the consortium of 5 Colleges was set up in March 2011

To Establish scalable Group purchasing to leverage discounted fees from major awarding suppliers

To save £75k in YEAR 1

• Value for money

◦ - A discount for our largest purchase

◦ - Free CPD

◦ - Sponsorship for Awards Ceremonies

• Service

◦ - Ease of contact and availability

◦ - Accurate & concise information

◦ - Someone who takes action

Awarding bodies over the years have increased exam

fees, but yet have passed the majority of admin tasks and costs associated with entries and results onto the exam office staff.

The introduction of Electronic Data Interchange (Edi) Web based Results Enquiry About Result (EAR) downloads Online marking systems

Exam fees amount to a major spend within any General FE

or Sixth Form College.

£0.00

£20,000.00

£40,000.00

£60,000.00

£80,000.00

£100,000.00

£120,000.00

£140,000.00

£160,000.00

AQA £ EDEXCEL £ OCR £ WJEC £

Stoke On Trent

Cadbury

Shrewsbury *

King Edward 6th

Worcester

QUARTER 1, 5,000 QUARTER 2, 20,000

QUARTER 3, 50,000

QUARTER 4, 75,000

SAVING YEAR 1,

75,000

First Stage

Gather together consortium exam data to provide a useful

guide for future working, in realising which boards are

currently being used across the consortium.

Once gathered this information has been useful to provide

a working document highlighting the areas for

development to work with the examination boards and

provide a basis for target areas of CPD.

College College College College College Subjects Offered 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13

Accounting AQA AQA AQA AQA

Applied Business OCR EDEXCEL

Applied Science AQA

Archeology AQA AQA

Art - Graphic Design OCR EDEXCEL AQA

Art - Jewellery OCR

Art - Photography WJEC OCR AQA EDEXCEL AQA & EDEXCEL

Art - Textiles OCR EDEXCEL

Art 3D Design OCR AQA

Art Fine Art WJEC OCR AQA EDEXCEL AQA

Baccalaureate AQA

Biology OCR AQA OCR OCR AQA

Business Studies OCR AQA AQA OCR AQA

Chemistry OCR OCR OCR OCR OCR

Citizenship AQA AQA

Classic Civilisation AQA OCR OCR AQA

Computing WJEC OCR WJEC AQA & WJEC

Critical Thinking OCR AQA OCR OCR OCR

Dance AQA AQA AQA

Design Technology EDEXCEL AQA AQA AQA

Drama EDEXCEL AQA EDEXCEL EDEXCEL

Economics OCR AQA AQA AQA

Electronics WJEC AQA

English Lang & Lit AQA EDEXCEL AQA EDEXCEL AQA & EDEXCEL

English Language AQA AQA AQA AQA WJEC

English Literature AQA WJEC OCR AQA OCR

Environmental Studies AQA AQA AQA

Extended Project AQA EDEXCEL AQA AQA

Film Studies WJEC WJEC WJEC WJEC WJEC

OCR – CHEMISTRY

Ask the Subject Expert Event

Friday 9 November 2012 In attendance: ALL consortium Chemistry staff

“I found the meeting very

useful and hope we keep in contact”

Would you recommend an

event to colleagues? 10/10

“networking very useful”

“could have done longer”

“would be good for

teachers to meet

annually”

“As long as staff know the background of the

meetings and can influence the agenda”

2011

January February March April May June July August September October November December

157 Group Bid Memorandums &

Article Initial Contact

signed OCR Quarter 1 Funding

received

2012

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Quarter 1 Progress Report

Quarter 2 Funding received

Quarter 2 Progress Report

Project Lead Appointed

Initial contact with Edexcel/AQA

AQA Purchase Order Principals Meeting

Quarter 3 Funding received Principals meeting

Quarter 4 Progress Report

Quarter 3 Progress

Report AQA Contract

received Chemistry CPD

Event

2013 OCR Contract

received

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Principals Meeting AoC Conference Philosophy & RS

CPD Event Principals Meeting

Quarter 4 Funding

Received PE/Sport CPD Event Dance CPD Event

The Project was initially delayed at the bid stage because

the bids were targeted for General FE Colleges.

AoC were interested in the bid proposal and therefore requested it was targeted to another fund, which was then successful

Appointment of Project Lead –

the time scale in the process to appoint delayed initial progress

1st Quarter funding was received November 2011 after the January entries were made

Under recruitment

Curriculum teams resistance to change

New A Level Reforms

Removal of January modules – reduced opportunity for re-sits, saves money and effects discounts

Achievements to date: Rebates of between 5-10% negotiated from 2 major Awarding

Bodies – based on increased spend

Increased CPD & Staff Development opportunities

Closer working relationships with consortium members to share best practise

Dedicated Accounts Manager from the Awarding Bodies – which

improves Quality Assurance

Sponsorship

Exam Office support

To increase spending power by consolidating and targeting area’s of spend

Joint working – improving procedures

Work closely with the consortium members and the

examination boards to provide high quality CPD/ subject experts

Provide links & events for sharing Good Practice

Grow opportunities for further ‘Shared Services’

IMPACT 2012-13 Grow the group once bid is over