eProspectus launches to stakeholders
Online pan-London prospectus for young Londoners, launched on March 20, 2007
Choice, a London wide eProspectus to educational provision for young adults, aged 14 to 19, which is accessible via the portal Your London, www.yourlondon.gov.uk/choice has gone live and has been launched to key stakeholders. This is phase one in the launch of the site. Phase two will see the site launched to young people.
Choice was developed by System Associates. The project is the largest of its kind in the UK in terms of joining up local authority information, involving the assimilation of information from more than 600 sources, including schools, colleges and work-based learning providers.
Choice contains a geographically searchable, up-to-date directory of 25,000 courses and programmes that schools, colleges and work-based training providers are offering young people in the London area. It has the potential to be used by up to half a million 14 to 19 year olds and is fully integrated with London mapping and Transport for London, to enable easy journey planning to course and training venues, including providing directions to the nearest Tube, train and bus stations for each location.
Choice offers a single access point for courses in the London area and also includes a 'favourites' facility so that users can save a selection of courses to review at a later date. Prior to Choice, when young people were researching their options, they had to hunt through the individual prospectuses of all the different learning providers, a time consuming and often confusing process.
Funded by the Learning and Skills Council and London Challenge, the project is being managed by London Connects and supported by all of London's local authorities, Connexions and the Mayor of London. Choice has been created in response to the recent 14 to 19 Education and Skills Implementation plan from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), which outlined the need for a strategy to ensure that young people know what educational provision is on offer to them in their local area.
To ensure information remains up-to date, learning providers, borough representatives and administrators can manage content via a secure content management system which allows them to update courses and venues in real-time on the Choice website.
London Schools Minister Lord Andrew Adonis said "This is a very valuable service to all young Londoners who will be able to identify, at the touch of a button, the full range of learning opportunities available to them. London has a significant number of young people who are outside both education and employment and the online prospectus will help them to access courses and gain new skills. I am delighted that we are offering this excellent resource covering the whole of London."
David Macken, managing director of System Associates comments "With more and more young people using the internet as their primary source of information, having a portal solution which provides information about their learning and career options makes it far easier for them to source the best option for them. Young people can evaluate many different options in one sitting, and work out what will fit in best around work, their location or additional responsibilities."
Plans for the future include extending the functions of Choice, and offering an online clearing house facility, which will enable young people to also apply for courses online. It is one of several innovative internet applications, developed by System Associates, which have been integrated into Your London over the past 12 months. Others include London eAdmissions, a parks and open spaces geographical search facility, a voluntary services directory, live traffic reports and a public sector jobs finder.
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