Managers in further education colleges will soon be able to cut through the confusion which is caused by trying to plan the curriculum to meet expected funding levels from government. UNIT-e Business Manager from Capita Further and Higher Education, is a total planning, claim and funding analysis tool which can put colleges back in control – allowing them to analyse the curriculum and funding together to see if it all stacks up in a viable way.
George Layfield, sales manager at Capita FHE, said: “With more than 20 different variables that affect the funding received for learners, it is no wonder that colleges find it difficult to predict whether a course will be successfully funded or not. UNIT-e Business Manager helps remove this uncertainty; creating accurate estimates of the amount of funding that will be received by taking into account variables such as type of learner, retention rates, achievement and the numbers of students from deprived areas. With a more realistic estimate of funding, colleges can plan for the future more effectively and uncover any mismatches in funding at the earliest opportunity.”
A college can input 'what if' scenarios so they can see the impact of a decision to attract more adult learners or put on new vocational courses, for example. They can then forecast the cost involved and what funding they will receive as a result. This will allow colleges to play with a few different models to see which makes the most sense.
Vici Cadwallader-Webb, associate director at the accountancy firm RSM Tenon’s specialist education, training and skills team, said: “Colleges need to have systems in place that can help them make the right choices in deciding whether to run a course or not. The primary consideration for colleges moving forward is the efficiency and effectiveness of the provision they offer to learners. Alongside the need to monitor staff utilisation, colleges need to know how changes in student numbers, attendance levels and success rates will affect the decision to run a course or not. This will become even more important as we move forward into a further education environment where budget cuts are the norm".
“UNIT-e Business Manager will enable college managers to plan more effectively and allow the performance against the plan to be reviewed on a timely basis.”
Sue Williams, vice-principal of finance and information systems at Orpington College, which will be one of the first colleges to use UNIT-e Business Manager said: “Currently disparate systems have to be manually reconciled to ensure accuracy when planning budgets, the curriculum or the utilisation of staff. By integrating our major planning tools in UNIT-e Business Manager, we believe we can ensure maximum efficiency in delivering support to the classroom and ensure our resources are rightly placed at the front line.”
UNIT-e Business Manager will be updated to reflect government funding models as they change so colleges do not have to worry about having to continually adjust their planning formulas.