Online academic support services

Tender description

Birkbeck is seeking to source a supplier for an online student support service which will focus on improving our students’ academic writing and foundational academic skills. The support should be available 24/7/365 and should be easy to access without facilitation from Birkbeck staff. The academic support should be developmental and lead learners to become more skilled and independent. The aim is to improve the attainment and outcomes of our students. Lot 1: Birkbeck, University of London thorough its Student Experience Review is committed to supporting the continuation and progression rates of our students as outlined in our Access & Participation Plan (APP)(http://www.bbk.ac.uk/downloads/policies/birkbeck-access-plan-2020-2021.pdf). Many of our students have been away from formal education for a long time and/or may have completed school or previous university study in a different language or academic culture. This means producing an extended piece of writing in formal academic English can be challenging. Under these circumstances, students need individual feedback on their writing to support their engagement with their course. This writing feedback may be readily available to students where there is a history of Higher Education in the immediate family or friendship group. However, students who are the first in their family to go to university or are from lower socio-economic backgrounds, may not have the same academic opportunities or networks to support them in their learning journey. Birkbeck is therefore keen to give all students access to this kind of support and create a level playing field to support continuation and achievement. This will, in turn, contribute and help deliver the good degree outcomes mandated by our regulator - the Office for Students (OfS). Additional information: This Prior Information Notice is to signal an intention to commence a market engagement with those within the online academic support services market. Birkbeck intends to hold this market engagement from February through to March 2021 with industry experts and suppliers interested in potentially bidding for the resulting commercial agreement. See VI.3) Additional information for more information.