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Case study

ALDAS — Adult Learner Data Analysis System

A dependable platform for councils and providers who need authoritative learner statistics—from top-level KPIs down to nuanced demographic and geographic comparisons—without spreadsheet gymnastics or fragile overnight rework.

Data can be fed from spreadsheets or existing management information systems; reports are engineered for clarity, auditing, and the pace that Ofsted-led reviews demand.

Why teams adopt ALDAS

  • Handles large enrolment volumes in a disciplined, navigable workspace.
  • Top-level and operational reports—with overnight pre-processing where instant opening matters.
  • Pivot-style analysis, grouping, and aggregation oriented to FE and skills funding questions.
  • Custom outputs through a report builder (PDF or Excel) for portfolios, boards, or partners.

Trusted deployments

ALDAS runs as a white-labelled product: deployments can be branded and configured per organisation. Councils served include:

  • Cheshire West & Chester Council
  • Cheshire East Council
  • Wigan Borough Council
  • Coventry City Council

In continuous use since the mid-2000s; battle-tested across inspections and recurring management scrutiny.

ALDAS main dashboard: KPI cards for enrolments, courses, learners and retention; enrolment-trend, resource-allocation and learner-performance charts; a subject-area breakdown; a latest-enrolments table; and left-hand navigation.
Navigation, KPI summary, and an enrolment-oriented workspace built for adult-education commissioners.

Reporting & analysis

The screenshots below show leadership-facing digest views: headline KPI summaries and complementary top-level comparative panels that still open instantly after overnight preparation.

ALDAS Top Level Report: a leadership digest with a background summary panel (total enrolments and learners, retention and satisfaction), a sex-breakdown chart, and an overview table of retention and pass rates by level.
Top-level digest: material leadership teams reuse in governance and Ofsted briefing packs.
ALDAS priorities and demographics analysis: side-by-side panels for IMD priority bands, course volumes, retention and achievement gauge dials, and demographic donut charts.
Companion analysis: priority bands and demographic breakdowns commissioners expect alongside the headline pack.

Outputs & configuration

Screens below pair the guided report wizard with an example purchaser-branded dashboard shell—ALDAS stays white-label ready so councils see their palette, typography, and governance cues first.

ALDAS report builder: field pickers for enrolment, course, provider, tutor, venue and funding; a column builder with chosen fields; report properties toggles; and Portrait, PDF and Excel export options.
Custom report wizard: consistent council-branded PDF or Excel packs without hand-rolling spreadsheets each cycle.
ALDAS dashboard with a configurable branding masthead: the ALDAS wordmark beside a placeholder institution crest, above filter selectors, KPI cards and charts—showing how each deployment can carry its own identity.
White-label shell: each deployment can foreground institutional branding while keeping ALDAS behaviours consistent behind the scenes.
What we'd explore first Week 1–2 discovery · data you already have · sign-off criteria

If you were starting an ALDAS-style reporting programme with us, we would begin with calm discovery—not a sales deck. Here is the shape of those first conversations.

  1. Weeks 1–2: Discovery

    • Who needs which reports, how often, and for which sign-off meetings
    • Where figures have been challenged before—and what evidence calms the room
    • How enrolment cycles, funding rules, and Ofsted-style reviews drive deadlines

  2. Data you already have

    • Spreadsheet extracts and legacy overnight workbooks teams already trust
    • MIS or provider feeds—and what is manual today
    • Definitions that differ between departments (the quiet source of arguments)

  3. What “good” looks like for sign-off

    • Reproducible council-branded packs without hand-rolling each cycle
    • Overnight or instant opening where leadership expects it
    • Pivots and cohort views that auditors and boards can follow

This is illustrative of how we begin—not a fixed statement of work. Every organisation gets a written discovery summary before build commitments.