Alpha and Beta 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, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, needed greater support to make well informed choices about HE. The OfS is now leading UK-wide work to determine how best to meet their needs. The outcome of discovery was a recommendation to progress to alpha to investigate how a new resource could better support decision making. For the OfS, this would be part of our strategy to ensure that all students, whatever their background, are supported to access, succeed in, and progress from, higher education. Problem to Be Solved Our research has shown that simply providing data, as we currently do through the Unistats website, is not the best way to support student decision making and that a different approach is needed. The discovery identified a clear user need for additional support through the decision making process and help to find and understand information, as well as the need to dispel prevalent myths about higher education. In alpha, we will continue to explore the best way of meeting student information needs. Any new resource would need to be informed by research into decision making behaviour. Who Are the Users As a prospective student, I need to: -understand more about HE to help me make an informed decision, -understand the costs involved in undertaking an HE course; the student loans system (where applicable); and what other support is available, -easily find and understand the information which is important to me, -find courses which meet my needs e.g. are close to home or in the right subject area. As a teacher or adviser/parent I need information about: -the current higher education system, -the range of options open to my students/children, -student finance, so that I can give good, well-informed, advice. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done We have carried out a discovery, the report from which is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/0cf180e9-3f8a-4003-8035-bfc014e34ce1/unistats-replacement-discovery-report.pdf Reports on the research carried out in 2015 as part of the UK funding bodies Review of the Provision of Information can be found here: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180319115354/http://www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/roiconsult/ra/ Existing Team The OfS will provide service owner and product owner resources, as well as resource from our Data, Analysis and Foresight team to support with data aspects of the project. 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 At the end of the Alpha a decision will be taken about progression to Beta and a service assessment will be required. The contractor will need to ensure that sufficient regard is given to the UK-wide nature of the project. Skills & Experience Experience of delivering digital services using an agile approach and successfully meeting the Digital Service Standard Experience of designing and developing digital services that meet both identified user needs and strategic objectives Experience of designing services which present complex datasets to users with varying levels of knowledge of and interest in statistical information Nice to Haves Understanding of student data and HE information Evidence of carrying out user research with school leavers (16-18 year olds), mature students and/or teachers No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria Evidence of understanding of the problem to be solved (20) Evidence of how the project will successfully identify user needs, including recruitment of an appropriate range of users (35) 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 (30) Identification of an appropriate team with relevant skills and experience (15) 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 Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range up to £170,000 (alpha) overall budget is around £600,000