From understanding to change: data transformation at BHASVIC

The challenge

BHASVIC is a high-performing sixth form college with a strong identity, culture and commitment to excellence. Like many providers, it has well established processes in place to meet statutory and regulatory requirements. However, the college was struggling to manage increasing demand for data to support teaching and learning, and to unlock strategic value from its data assets.

Senior leaders (SLT) were interested in data and understood its role in key areas such as compliance and the annual self-assessment (SAR). However, strategic reporting and development effort had become focused on a relatively narrow set of requirements, disconnected from operational and cross-college information needs. Data was spread across multiple systems, local processes and spreadsheets, creating duplication and manual effort. In addition, data definitions and ownership were not always consistent between the central team and other users.

These limitations were not immediately visible to SLT on a day-to-day basis, but their impact was clear in opportunity cost. Improving consistency, strengthening trust and enabling better decision-making were not being fully addressed.

The solution

We worked with BHASVIC through a structured discovery process designed to understand not just the college’s systems and reporting outputs, but also the culture, assumptions and working practices shaping its data landscape. This included our data maturity: discovery assessment and stakeholder interviews, which reflected a mixed picture, showing some strengths alongside opportunities for improvement. SLT and college governor engagement was a notable positive as leadership commitment is one of the hardest elements of data improvement to secure.

We delivered a current state report which was presented to SLT. As Mark Monahan (vice principal) commented, the report was, “illuminating and gave us exactly what we needed” as it provided an objective assessment of the college’s landscape and challenges. We then spent time on site at BHASVIC, working with senior leaders and colleagues across the college to validate findings and shape how recommendations could be taken forward.

Mark said:

“What the Jisc process gave us, really, was permission to stop firefighting and actually own this properly. Once you’ve got it in black and white, you can’t “unsee” it and you can’t leave one person to sort it out. SLT needed to own it.”

Discussions with SLT were especially valuable. Presenting the findings face to face helped move the conversation beyond diagnosis and into leadership ownership. We tested assumptions, worked through the implications of the findings, and connected the college’s ambitions with the organisational conditions needed to deliver them. The process helped clarify that data is not simply a technical issue or a reporting function, but an organisational asset and capability that underpins how the college runs.

Outputs included a practical and phased roadmap. This included a college-wide approach to data (via a data strategy), defining core reporting needs across different use cases, identifying systems of record, reducing duplication caused by local workarounds, and documenting key definitions and ownership for important data sets. We also recommended building a broader enterprise approach to reporting and dashboards, alongside clearer structural responsibilities for data management, reporting and business intelligence.

The roadmap recognised that sustainable progress depends on far more than technology. Governance, ownership, culture and leadership all need to evolve alongside reporting capability and infrastructure, in a way that aligns with the college’s culture and values.

Results

The engagement gave BHASVIC consensus on current state and emphasised that senior leaders had a key role to play in sponsoring further improvement. It highlighted to SLT how critical data is for the day-to-day running of the college, and they recognised that the right structures and ownership were needed to drive consistency across the organisation. This clarity ensured SLT led change in defining new data roles, ways of working, governance, processes and reporting development.

The project also created a broader mandate for action. Existing frustrations and concerns were turned into evidence-based findings and recommendations, giving teams greater authority to move forward with difficult but necessary conversations about priorities, architecture and data literacy.

Will Baldwin, principal of BHASVIC, said:

"When we brought Jisc in, it wasn't because we needed convincing that data mattered. We had an idea of where we wanted to get to. What we didn't have was how. We first needed someone independent to tell us what the real problem was and how complex modern organisations manage their data. We knew we lacked capacity, but we didn’t want to start spending money or restructuring roles around the wrong answer. Capacity and direction are different problems. We could have hired our way into doing the wrong thing faster. We needed to decide as an SLT and own that direction first and we needed outside expertise to help us see that"

Further resources

• Browse our data consultancy services including the data maturity discovery assessment
• Explore the data maturity framework
• Complete the free eLearning module, an introduction to data maturity
• Join our data community on Linkedin to share ideas and best practice