RCU - Research and Consultancy in Education

MiDES

Market Intelligence Data Exchange Service

RCU and the Association of Colleges (AoC) joined forces to develop the MiDES data analysis service which offers important market intelligence to colleges as part of their AoC subscription.

The Market Intelligence Data Exchange Service, MiDES for short, was launched in March 2011 and provides flexible, responsive in-year intelligence to AoC member colleges, college groupings and the Association itself.

 The MiDES service consists of a suite of in-year market intelligence reports on key topics for colleges and also offers the opportunity for colleges, individually or in consortia, to commission customised analysis.  The availability of the infrastructure to analyse the data means the cost is lower than it would be otherwise to produce bespoke analysis. Turnaround times are also reduced. The full suite of reports available to members is listed below:

Learner Responsive Reports

• ‘In-Year Retention Analysis’ - This enables you to compare the retention trends in your institution with the national picture and other selected comparator groups (such as provider type, region and deprivation).

• ‘Curriculum Profile Analysis’ - This allows you to analyse your curriculum profile by Sector Subject Area and compare with the national picture or other selected comparator groups.

• ‘Deprivation Profile Analysis’ – This allows you to compare the deprivation profile in your own institution with the national or regional picture and other set comparator groups. You can use comparisons including top ten learner recruitment districts, learner type, sector subject area and NVQ level.

• ‘Fee Income’ – This is a brand new report which will enable you to compare adult learner responsive enrolments by the reasons for full funding / co-funding. You will also be able to compare fee income per guided learning hour for your college with the national picture and other selected comparator groups.

Employer Responsive

• Apprenticeships Profile – This report provides up-to-date information on one of the key growth markets for colleges. The report enables a college to view its profile for the Top 10 Apprenticeship Frameworks nationally, broken down by Framework type and to investigate its profile by key characteristics such as Starts, Withdrawals and Completers.

Colleges will also be able to purchase customised ‘ad-hoc’ analysis and reports based on current year learner data at a discounted price.  RCU will also continue to offer market share and curriculum planning information using historic trends.

From the outset, colleges’ feedback has underlined the value of being able to harness in-year data for decision-making and the potential for the MiDES reports to contribute to business and curriculum planning as well as to the Self Assessment Report process. 

For more information on this service please visit our dedicated website http://mides.rcu.co.uk/cms/ or get in touch with us directly via email, mides@rcu.co.uk or telephone 01772 885999.

You can also download an example of the 'In-Year Retention Report' or have a look at our Frequently Asked Questions below.

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