pilot last year<\/a>, DfE said more than 95,000 young people would get their results via the app. A total of 487 schools and colleges were invited. <\/p>\n\n\n\nBut only 29 schools took up the offer, meaning the pilot only involved about 4,000 pupils. The DfE said it was run on an optional basis, and it was not mandatory for schools or pupils to take part. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
DfE said it will remain optional this year before they \u201creflect on finding to look at next steps\u201d for the record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schools and colleges will also be able to easily access information on “which students need extra support, including whether they need to continue working towards English and maths GCSEs, have SEND requirements or qualify for free school meals\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u00a330 million cost saving is based on the number of 16 and 17 year old students and the number of courses studied in 2023-24 and 2024-25. They assumed cost estimates of \u00a310 per learner and \u00a310 per course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photocopying could be ditched<\/h3>\n\n\n\n \u201cExtensive user research\u201d with colleges identified enrolment activities that could be stopped or reduced as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This included getting rid of photocopying of documentation and the manual process of matching emails with applications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It could also reduce manual data entry and delays linked to pupils not having the correct documentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The savings assume that nearly all young people moving from a school into FE and apprenticeships would use the app to enrol at a new setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepe Di\u2019Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the move as well as retaining the face-to-face option as it \u201cnot only allows them to celebrate with peers and teachers, but also to receive any advice or support they may require regarding next steps\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added: \u201cWe are sure that school and college leaders will also welcome the administrative savings made possible as a result of this change, although this will only amount to a drop in the ocean compared to the funding pressures they remain under.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Elizabeth Anderson, chief executive of the Digital Poverty Alliance, pointed to their data which found one in five children are in digital poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added: “The introduction of the Education Record app assumes that all teenagers will have access and, without proper consideration, will only heighten the digital divide. There will also be a set of young people using older devices that may not be secure, risking cyber or data breaches, simply for checking their exam results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We cannot exclude the next generation when it comes to education by pushing yet another essential service online, without the proper support in place.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It follows a pilot where just six per cent of invited schools and colleges took part, but ministers hope it will save \u00a330m<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311127,"featured_media":239916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"post-theme":[2345],"class_list":["post-239904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","post-theme-assessment"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t