Discovery for a resource to support prospective higher education students with decision making

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done Research carried out in 2015 by the UK HE funding bodies showed that prospective students needed greater support to make well-informed course choices which would result in positive outcomes. This was particularly the case for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Office for Students is taking forward a discovery to investigate further the need for a new resource to help prospective students make decisions, which would replace the Unistats website. This would be part of our strategy to meet our regulatory objective to ensure that all students, whatever their background, are supported to access, succeed in, and progress from, higher education. Problem to Be Solved By September 2018, the OfS need to decide whether we develop a replacement for the Unistats website. A replacement would need to be developed by September 2019. Our research shows that simply providing data is not the best way to support student decision-making and that a different approach is needed. We are interested in exploring the best way of meeting student information needs and what role the Office for Students should have in this. Any new resource would need to be informed by research into decision-making behaviour. Who Are the Users Prospective higher education students and those who advise them. As a prospective student, I need to: • understand more about HE to help me make an informed decision • understand how much it will cost to undertake an HE course and what support is available • find the information which is important to me • find courses which meet my needs e.g. are close to home/in the right subject area/ which have a placement. As a teacher or adviser/parent I want to find and understand information about different courses to help me advise my students/children when choosing an HE course. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done Research on information needs was carried out with large numbers of prospective and current students (600 and 1100 respectively) in 2015 as part of the Unistats review. This research is available on the Higher Education Funding Council for England website at http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2015/201527/. Work was paused due to the establishment of the OfS. We have mapped other information sources and commissioned an update to a previous study on decision-making behaviour, both of which can be shared with the successful supplier. We are also carrying out work on possible approaches to marketing of a new website for inclusion in the business case. Existing Team Service owner and Product owner Current Phase Discovery Work Location Office for Students Nicholson House Lime Kiln Close Stoke Gifford BRISTOL BS34 8SR Working Arrangments The supplier should be co-located at the OfS’ office in Bristol, although it is expected that travel and off-site working will be required to conduct user research. There is no separate budget for travel costs or expenses so this should be included in the overall project costs. Security Clearance Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience Have experience of delivering digital services using an agile team and meeting the Digital Service Standard Have experience of carrying out user research and of user-centred design of digital services that meet identified user needs and business objectives Have experience of designing services which present complex datasets to users with varying levels of knowledge of and interest in statistical information Have experience of business case development Have experience of working with in-house teams with limited Agile knowledge Nice to Haves Show understanding of student data and HE information Show evidence of carrying out user research with school age users and/or teachers Show experience of working with ‘hard to reach’ users Show experience of service redesign No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Evidence of understanding of the policy landscape and the problem to be solved (20 points) Evidence of how the project will successfully identify user needs (25 points) Evidence of how the project will be delivered within the required timescale. The proposal should include a project plan of activities and deliverables with appropriate risk identification and mitigations (20) Identification of an appropriate team with relevant skills and experience (20 points) Description of appropriate approach to business case development (15 points) Cultural Fit Criteria Evidence of working on digital projects with a strong policy component and ability to work with policy colleagues A collaborative approach, demonstrating how the supplier will work with the internal team and approach wider stakeholder engagement Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £80,000 to £100,000