Case Study: database publishing the annual School & College Performance Tables

The publication, for the first time in 1992, of the School and College Performance Tables was the largest publishing project the Department for Education had ever undertaken. Six million exam results had to be analysed and allocated to thousands of schools, which in turn had to be grouped by local education authority (LEA). Every LEA therefore had its own sets of tables, detailing the examination performance of every school within its area, not just those maintained by the LEA.

Every page of the more than 130 booklets had to be produced as camera-ready artwork by converting the raw schools’ data into a customer-friendly format. Using database publishing techniques, ABC prepared all the necessary test prints during the summer, in preparation for receiving the live data in the autumn.

Once the exam results had been finalised, the expectation of parents and schools — not to mention ministers! — was for the tables to be published as quickly as possible afterwards. Thus time was of the essence, which necessitated working long hours until the final artwork could be delivered to around ten printing firms, who in turn were then under pressure to produce the tables rapidly. At every stage however accuracy was of paramount importance.

Once ABC received the live data however, it was immediately apparent to us that it was flawed. As soon as the DFE saw these flaws, they ordered that the raw data be re-processed, and ABC collaborated with them to ensure that overall timescales slipped by the smallest possible margin, and we met their revised deadline. A key member of the DFE project team, Brian Morgan, observed: “Without ABC’s timely intervention these tables, the first ever produced, would have had embarrassing consequences for the department. As it was, the project was brought back on track quickly and professionally.” In terms of the working relationship in general, he added: “I have now collaborated with ABC on data-based projects since 1992 and throughout that time they have always demonstrated commendable attention to detail. They are highly responsive and invariably put forward innovative solutions.”

This project demonstrated a fundamental feature of ABC’s relationship with its clients: the ability always to look beyond the brief and to ‘think outside the box’.

The bottom line for this project was:

• final artwork had to be delivered in a very short time-frame, due to the sensitive nature of the project; but
• accuracy was of paramount importance, therefore it would have been totally inappropriate for ABC to keep quiet and simply artwork the raw data we were supplied in order to meet the deadline
• officials and ministers were, quite understandably, looking for a timely result, but it had to be the right result!

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