The document summarizes efforts by FE Sussex, a consortium of 12 post-16 colleges in Sussex, to improve the value for money in their procurement of examinations from awarding bodies. It discusses conducting a spend analysis that revealed 57% of expenditures went to two large awarding bodies. FE Sussex then approached these bodies to negotiate strategic partnerships with incentives like discounts linked to increased business. The goal is to rationalize the number of awarding bodies and forge alliances to obtain better prices, services, and value. Future plans may include regional tendering processes and even establishing their own awarding body.

1. Improving the value of
examination procurement in
Sussex
Tim Strickland
CEO, FE Sussex

2. FE Sussex
-value for money procurement from
Awarding Bodies
Set the context of who we are
and why we have done this
Talk about the methodology we used
Discuss what can be gained
Suggest successful ways of improving value for money
Talk about the future

3. FE Sussex
-value for money procurement from
Awarding Bodies
“Gentlemen:
we are
running out of money”
and yet
“…(the) finance committee’s
cases of administrative waste
and inefficiency Winston Churchill, History of WWII, Pg 352 Vol IV
I always study (sic) with great interest”

4. FE Sussex
The consortium company of the 12 post-sixteen
Sussex colleges

5. The 12 post-sixteen Sussex colleges
Total turnover
£228.21M pa
Total examination board spend
£5.1M pa

6. The 12 post-sixteen Sussex colleges
Five Sixth Form colleges
Six General Further Education colleges
One specialist land-based college

7. Colleges as businesses
All colleges are businesses in their
own right and therefore have
•Suppliers and customers
•Business philosophy
•Business ethic
Awarding bodies are
suppliers of services to
colleges

8. The efficiency programme
Our aim
To improve the value for money we
receive from the suppliers who provide
services to our member colleges

9. What are the pros and cons of
collaborative working?
Group question
What are the pros and cons
of collaborative working?

10. Collaborative working
The pros
Strength
Ideas
PRD
Pulling power
Success
The cons
•Trust – is it truly there?
•Understanding – who wants what
•Relationships – take time!
•External politics – difficult!!
……

11. The efficiency programme
Question?
Why has the awarding body agenda come
to the fore?
•Government
•Ofqual
•Customers
•Fashion
•Inefficiency
•Value for money agenda

12. What we set out to
put right!

13. How we’re doing

14. Our awarding bodies target savings
10% savings by July 2011

15. Smarter examination procurement
Group question
How many awarding bodies
do you use in your college?
What is the amount of total spend?
What is the spread of spend?

16. How we started the process of value for
money improvement
Undertook a spend analysis on awarding bodies
within our consortium
What it told us
What it did not tell us
The result - a plan of action

17. Conducting a spend analysis
Group question
What will the end result look like?

18. The results of our spend
analysis-
An enormous spreadsheet –
12 rows deep, 59 columns wide
Maximum spend – minimum spend

19. Our end result - the format of our spend
analysis:
Universit
British y of
Name of Horse British Cambrid ABC
College AQA OCN OCR Soc Council NCFE ASDAN EAL EDI EMTA Lantra ge ESOL AWARDS
Plumpton
Northbrook
Chichester
CCB
Bhasvic
SDC
SCC
Varndean
Collyers
Worthing
CSC
Bexhill
0

20. The results of our spend
analysis-
18%
City and Guilds
Edexcel
57% Other
25%

21. The results of our spend analysis
Knowledge of spend with each awarding body
Strategic targeting of leading boards
Realisation of the need to target spending
An ability to talk with confidence to awarding bodies
The need to get on our bike and talk to awarding bodies
Concerns by our colleges over effects on
teaching, success rates and L&M

22. FE Sussex
What do we do now?

23. FE Sussex
What do we do now?
Look to achieve our original aim
of improving
value for money for our colleges

24. Improve value for money
HOW?

25. FE Sussex
What do we do now?
By consolidating and targeting our
business and using the advantages this
could bring

26. FE Sussex
What do we do now?
Approach the largest awarding bodies
with
an offer of a strategic partnership

27. Group question
What should a partnership arrangement
offer
- on both sides

28. What a partnership could offer
Some examples
Financial gain Improved efficiency
Enhanced CPD Marketing help
Financial analysis and assistance

29. What do we want from an awarding
body?
Service
Value for money
Someone who knows the job
Someone who takes action
Accurate and concise
information
Ease of contact and
availability

30. What’s going to get in the way
Barriers Problems
Obstacles Stumbling blocks
Challenges

31. Suggest five examples of barriers and put
them in rank order!
Group question

32. Barriers, challenges, obstacles
From our experience:
From exams…We don’t need to change
From curriculum teams…doom and gloom
Cross college…inertia in planning
Ignorance of the strategic objective

33. The results of talking –
Success
Incentive discounts linked to level of turnover
Value added enhancements such as:
Key account managers
Improved quality assurance assistance
Speedy turnaround of registrations and certification
Early alerting to problems
Free CPD and staff development
Sponsorship of award ceremonies

34. Celebrating the
achievement of
vocational learners in
Sussex

35. Who are they and what did
they say?..
Nobody said there would be days like this…
(and his aunt said “ you’ll never make a living out of playing a guitar”)
The times they are a-changing…
There will be fewer people to manage. Collaboration is about
saving costs, both front and curriculum areas…look around at
your competitors…we need to be imaginative and take risks…
(24.6.10, Bloomsbury Hotel– Future of Further Education)

36. Future ways of working
for colleges
Tender exercises for suppliers of
qualifications
Having preferred suppliers of
qualifications – from tendering
Forgingmeaningful and commercially
advantageous partnerships

37. The future:
Rationalisation of the number of
awarding bodies we deal with
Formation of two-way strategic alliances
Price reduction and value for money increase
The need to incorporate open and fair competition
under UK procurement rules

38. The future:
The introduction of tendering –
driving down costs and increasing service levels
Opportunity to become an awarding body
Regionally or sub-regionally

39. FE Sussex
Summary

40. FE Sussex
Thank you and any questions!