How Bath College Took the Plunge into Data to Shape Future Careers

Bath College, a leading further education provider in the South West of England, serves over 8,000 learners across its campuses and community outreach centres. Offering more than 1,000 courses from entry-level to Level 5, the college is pivotal in equipping students with skills to meet local and regional job market demands. 

As the largest apprenticeship provider in the area and the only general further education college in Bath, Bath College has a unique responsibility to prepare its students for a bright future by aligning its curriculum with the skills employers require.

To achieve its mission of inspiring individuals and enriching the community, the college embraced a data-driven approach to strengthening links with employers, adapting curriculum offerings, and preparing students for their next steps.

The Challenge

Faced with a rapidly evolving job market, Bath College needed a way to ensure its curriculum remained aligned with the skills demanded by employers. The pandemic further accelerated changes in employment trends, making it essential for the college to review its offerings continuously.

Sam Kenny, Director of Quality and Performance at Bath College, explained:

We have a responsibility and an obligation to ensure that our curriculum provides our learners and apprentices with what they require to access the job market. We want them to be so well informed that they can access the job market and their intended destinations when they leave us.

Without accurate, localised insights into job trends, emerging skills, and employer needs, the college risked falling short of its mission to provide students with relevant and future-proof education and career advice.

Partnering with Lightcast

Bath College partnered with Lightcast to address these challenges, leveraging its comprehensive labour market intelligence. The college embedded Lightcast’s skills data across its operations to support curriculum planning, staff development, and career services.

Informing Curriculum Planning

The college began by using Lightcast data to guide its curriculum planning. By analysing local and national job trends, it identified growth areas and emerging skills to shape its course offerings. 

Aside from detailed labour market data, Lightcast also hosted workshops to keep the relevant teams up-to-speed on how to use its platform. “Those workshops are invaluable for curriculum teams and heads of department during those curriculum planning stages.” Sam shared. The workshops enable the team to review their plans with LMI so that they don't quickly become outdated.

Enhancing Career Services

Bath College works towards and assesses itself against the Gatsby Benchmarks to ensure informed decision-making for students. Labour market information became integral to the college’s career strategy. 

According to Sam, "It is exceptionally important because it means we can provide a career strategy that is as well-informed and up-to-date as possible.” The level of detail on job postings, from average median salaries in an industry to skills requirements specific to a role, helps learners understand what job opportunities are available and where they can see themselves.

Building Staff Confidence

The college also focused on upskilling staff with the latest industry insights to ensure curriculum delivery remained relevant. This ongoing project aims to embed a skills-focused mindset across the organisation by providing staff members with actionable labour market data. 

Lightcast went beyond supplying Bath College with data, providing workshops and customised reports that enabled staff to interpret and apply the data confidently. According to Sam:

We have an obligation to ensure that we're contributing to meeting the skills needed [by employers]. The reports we generated via Lightcast gave us that skills-focused mindset.

Creating Digital Badges

A standout initiative informed by Lightcast data was the introduction of digital badges. These value-added credentials were developed in collaboration with employers to address specific skill gaps in fast-moving industries like hair and beauty, where skill requirements change rapidly.

The digital badges offered Bath College students a tangible, recognised credential that showcased their proficiency in in-demand skills. They also provided a practical way for employers to assess capabilities, especially in sectors where soft skills and specialised knowledge are crucial but not always reflected in traditional qualifications. 

Bath College’s Ongoing Commitment to Adapting and Innovating

Bath College’s journey with Lightcast is ongoing. As Sam explained, embedding skills data is not a one-off task:

The labour market continues to shift quite significantly all the time. So it's important that we review and revisit the labour market information that we're providing to teams on an ongoing basis.” 

Next on the agenda is deepening employer engagement using Lightcast data. By focusing on skills development, the College aims to foster stronger partnerships with key stakeholders and work collaboratively to meet current and emerging skills needs. 

Lightcast data is embedded across Bath College, and it continues to help the College stay relevant, offer the right curriculum and support, and equip students for the current demands of the workforce. 

If you’re a Further Education provider looking to make more informed curriculum or strategy decisions, contact us below. 

💡 Check out more case studies on how our data is helping education providers to shape future careers.

• Weston College: Using Career Coach to Drive Student Recruitment and Improve Career Guidance

• The Prince's Trust: Supporting Young People to Find Fruitful Careers and Change Their Lives. 

• Nottingham Trent: Using Lightcast to Create a Portfolio for a New University Hub