Around £30 million a year in admin costs could be saved with a new app for year 11 pupils that automatically shares their key information and exam results, ministers have claimed.
Nearly 100,000 year 11 pupils in the Greater Manchester and the West Midlands combined authority areas will be the first to trial the app, called Education Record, this summer.
Alongside receiving their GCSE results through the app in August, pupils can enrol for a college course or an apprenticeship with an employer without needing to bring physical copies of their qualifications or ID.
Education minister Stephen Morgan told FE Week the move will reduce burdens on school and college staff and was “just common sense” for learners moving to further education.
“Far too often you hear about documents being saved in dusty old cabinets,” Morgan said.
“It just makes sense to have all that information in an app to make that transition to your next step. Hopefully, it will make a big difference.”
Using the app, pupils can share their information with a sixth form, college or training provider. This will then automatically share their unique learner number, date of birth, sex, address, GCSE results, school information, financial and learning support needs.
A Department for Education press release claimed the digital record app could collectively save schools and colleges up to £30 million per year in admin costs if fully rolled out.
Year 11 pupils at Hathershaw College school in Oldham have had access to the app since spring 2024. One pupil, who is hoping to progress to an engineering T Level at a local college this September, told FE Week the app was “a lot more efficient”.
“Now you get your results on GCSE day, and you have to keep your certificates safe for weeks and weeks. Whereas if it’s all on your phone, you know it’s going to be with the younger generation all the time anyway. So when you go to college, everything they ask for is on your phone already,” the student said.
In total, 487 schools, as well as colleges, in the Greater Manchester and West Midlands combined authorities have been invited to take part in the pilot, which runs until September. A decision about next steps will be made in the autumn.
Morgan was cautious not to fully commit to a future rollout of the app while the pilot was underway, but said he was “really keen to learn lessons and think about how we can use AI and technology more broadly in the education system”.
School and college leaders welcomed the plans.
The Association of Colleges (AoC) described the app as a “game-changer” for learners.
Catherine Sezen, director of education policy at the AoC, said: “Having all their personal data and exam results in on easy to access app will make enrolment so much smoother for them and for their college. Time and money currently spent on admin will allow colleges to offer even more comprehensive information advice and guidance on and after results days.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the app was a “positive step forward” but wanted a “much more strategic vision” for education technology, including exams.
He said: “A digital exam system would improve matters for everyone involved and we urge the government to invest in creating the infrastructure schools and colleges need to make this a reality.”
As a Greater Manchester college, it will be useful to have GCSE results, SEND status and FSM eligibility to hand at enrolment. Not sure how we will save ‘millions’ using this as a sector? If the exam access arrangements were made portable from school on this app, that would save colleges and young people a lot of time, resource and effort and avoid us having to re do the whole process. It would also enable EAA to be in place in time for November resits for eligible learners.