RCU - Research and Consultancy in Education

Services for Colleges

RCU recognises the pressures facing Colleges in the current turbulent economic environment, with funding cuts and a drive towards efficient use of resources, RCU can help you by making sense of market intelligence to inform your strategic planning.

If you’re grappling with issues such as how to:

• identify routes to competitive advantage
• achieve recruitment targets
• increase income
• seize opportunities for growth
• establish stakeholder views
• drive efficiency and effectiveness
• play your part in your local community

Then, RCU can help inform your decisions.  You can download our brochure or use our case studies and reports in our Publications section to view the types of research that Colleges have commissioned us to undertake.

To find out what other college leaders have to say about their experiences of RCU, follow the links below:

Testimonial by Ann Turner, Principal, Myerscough College

Testimonial by Richard Atkins, Principal, Exeter College

Testimonial by Gary Groom, Principal, Redcar & Cleveland College

Testimonial by Sue Higginson, Assistant Principal, Wirral Met. College

Videos

Testimonial by Gary Groom, Principal, Redcar & Cleveland College

Testimonial by Gary Groom, Principal, Redcar & Cleveland College

Related Documents

Frequently Asked Questions

How can research help me?

Above all, it can help by providing an evidence-base for decision-making. Beyond that it can identify customer insight, market trends, new opportunities, ways of operating your business more effectively and efficiently - so it can help you to save money, too.

I'm not entirely sure what research questions we need to be asking - is that a problem?

Working with potential clients to clarify what it is that they need to know and the best way of tackling it are the starting point of many of our projects. Occasionally, we are sent a clear specification of what is needed etc - but that is hardly the norm. As a result, we're happy to talk to you and work out the questions you need answering and then, if you like, we'll give you a quote for carrying out the work Simply get in touch with us: enquiries@rcu.co.uk

What is the process for setting up a research project?

The starting point is to work out what it is you need to know. That's not as easy as it sounds so our starting point is frequently to discuss this with a potential clients and then to look at the best ways of tackling the process. After that we will submit a quote, with clear costing and timelines and outcomes etc. That's the process.

What sorts of organisation do you work with?

We work for a wide range of organisations in the public sector, mainly. Historically, our focus has been on the post-16 education sector where we have carried out assignments for both individual providers such as colleges or local authorities but we have also done research on behalf of Awarding Bodies and national government departments.