copied to Matthew Paul

It didn't take much to realise that the centre referred to in Matthew Paul's 
posting was probably Hereward and only 5 minutes to check the likely student 
and the facts. The student was in fact advised to contact other ACCESS 
Centres and told that although the next available slot was mid January they 
would be contacted if there was a cancellation. In fact the case was handled 
very professionally and perhaps it would have been more appropriate for the 
LEA officers involved to call me or John Goodacre to ascertain the facts 
before making a post like this. Still, we are grateful to St.John for brining 
this to our attention as it provides us with an opportunity to clarify the 
situation and move on.

The assessment room at Hereward IS fully booked until 19th January but we 
have been working with local universities to provide assessments at 
alternative venues, unfortunately the university in this case has not been 
able to meet with us yet to discuss this. So far we have made arrangements 
with UC Worcs, De Montford at Milton Keynes and (just today) Birmingham and 
I'll be conducting some assessments at Worcs and MK in 2 weeks that will be 
administered through Hereward.

Alternatively, any LEA that requires an urgent assessment by an experienced 
assessor in the Midlands and does not require an NFAC stamp on the report can 
contact me direct.  I'll take this opportunity to explain that I am leaving 
'formal employment' at Hereward from next week but will be undertaking 
assessments for the centre as a 'freelance' as well as being available for 
assessments elsewhere. 

Now, I feel we have responded positively to the increased demand and have 
offered some practical solutions to speed up the process. The steps we have 
put in place have resulted in 50% more assessments booked so far this year 
with one fewer assessors (Irena 'retired' to Wales last week).  With so much 
'pressure on the system' and with the impact of Post Grad, Part-time and OU 
entitlement still to come it would be constructive if HEI's, LEA's and 
assessors could work together flexibly to resolve difficulties rather than 
start an argument.  I'm open to ideas, so call me Matthew and St.John if you 
have any further suggestions.
warm regards,
Michael Trott
[log in to unmask]
Tel 01386 792617



In a message dated 01/11/00 St.John Skeates writes:

 Hi all
 This was posted on LEA Admin. I figured folks here might have something   
 to say on the subject :)
 St.John Skeates
 Awards Section
 Bedfordshire County Council
 
  -----Original Message-----
 From:   Matthew Paul [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
 Sent:   Wednesday, November 01, 2000 11:06 AM
 To: [log in to unmask]; Skeates,St.John DEAL Awards Tm
 Subject:    DSA Needs Assessments
 
 We are experiencing situations where students are being sent off to   
 Access  Centres only to find that the earliest booking they can get for a 
needs
 assessment is mid-January.  I realize that demand has grown enormously in
 the last couple of years but, clearly, in some cases, this may have
 implications for the students' attendance on their courses.
 
 One particular student at an institution in the Midlands has been   
 compelled  to travel back down to London for the assessment, which seems a 
little
 silly.  The Access Centre to which she was referred by her institution   
 took  the view that they were doing their best, however they had not even
 suggested to the student that, rather than wait 3 months for an   
 appointment  there, she should try other centres.  Not very 
customer-friendly,   
 methinks.  I'm not saying that that kind of practice is widespread, but the 
fact   
 that  it exists at all is a little worrying.
 
 Are any other LEAs or HEIs encountering similar problems?  My feeling is
 that the problem could be overcome if co-ordinated updates on   
 availability at the Access Centres could be sent to LEAs and HEIs at 
regular, say
 monthly, intervals.  Perhaps the National Federation of Access Centres   
 could  take on such a responsibility?  (But then I suppose that not all the  
 
 centres  belong to NFAC...)
 
 Matthew Paul
 Principal Pupil & Student Support Officer
 London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
 
 Tel: 020 8891 7588
 Fax: 020 8891 7714
 E-mail: [log in to unmask]
  >>


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