What is a Standard?

A standard defines a set of criteria, rules or guidelines to be used for common and repeated use. Standards are established by consensus and approved by a recognised body. See the Case Studies for examples of information standards.

Benefits of Information Standards

Information standards ensure that information is stored in common, consistent formats. They ensure that where appropriate information can be shared between different users across the system and still be understood and used. This makes common information standards an essential building block for our information strategy - which is about taking forward the Transformational Government agenda of information systems that are increasingly joined-up and centred on customers (children, parents, learners, employers) rather than institutions.

Benefits of System-wide Information Standards

System-wide information standards will enhance the capacity and capability to access and use information to best effect across the education, schools and children’s service (escs) system by:

• Reducing the implementation time and costs of developing and delivering sector programmes and solutions, increasing value for money
• Reducing operational costs by enabling data to be created once and used many times across different sectors
• Estimated savings of £25 million per year across the system
• Creating a more open and competitive market for educational software
• Enabling the creation of innovative, high value online services for enhancing learner and child outcomes

Benefits that Standards will bring to the Business

• Informed Practitioners - Practitioners will be alert to the circumstances of every child, allowing them to protect children and young people who might be at risk from those people who might be a danger to them
• eAccess for Learners - We will provide better support to learners by enabling more personalisation of their learning and e-documentation to support them in the labour market
• Better Data Analysis - We will be able to analyse our data in ‘real time’, allowing us to be more informed, and to produce a more timely and effective education and skills policy
• Improved Learner Choice - Learners will be able to make more informed choices about learning providers and access resources at a time that suits them
• Easier for Learners - The learner will find it much easier and quicker to apply and register for courses, seek financial support and manage their learning
• Performance Improvement - Providers will be able to improve their performance as a result of more timely, accurate information, allowing them to concentrate on better learning outcomes
• Application Sharing - We will save money by sharing applications across policies
• Parents Participation - Parents will be able to participate in their children’s education in a more immediate and engaging way
• Protecting Information - Parents, children and learners will be confident that all organisations within the sector are keeping their information safe and will only use it for their benefit