Self Assessment and Evaluation Tool for the Careers & Enterprise Company

The Careers & Enterprise Company is England’s national body for careers education, who work with schools, colleges and employers to improve careers provision and employer engagement so every young person can secure their best next step.

SkillsLogic has developed a bespoke online evaluation tool for the Careers & Enterprise Company as part of a wider Employer Portal. The service is an easy-to-use digital self assessment and questionnaire system that lets employers and careers leaders complete a 25-minute online assessment, receive immediate results, and access tailored recommendations to improve outreach and careers engagement.

Key features and how they help

• Self Assessment: a guided online questionnaire mapped to the nine Employer Standards so careers leaders can evaluate current practice quickly and consistently.
• Instant results and recommendations: participants see their outcome in seconds with short-, medium- and long-term suggestions for improvement.
• Benchmarking and comparison: compare results nationally, regionally or by sector to identify gaps and best-practice peers, supporting evidence-led decision making.
• Insight and analysis: dashboards and reporting provide actionable insight and analysis to help organisations prioritise activity and measure progress over time.
• Accessible onboarding and scale: free registration and an intuitive workflow make the evaluation tool suitable for single schools, multi-school trusts, Careers Hubs and employer networks.

Why this matters for careers leaders and employers

The combined questionnaire and evaluation tool reduces administrative friction, giving careers leaders a fast, evidence-based snapshot of strengths and weaknesses. Benchmarking strengthens the case for investment when presenting progress to senior leaders or partners. Actionable insight and tailored recommendations convert assessment outputs into practical next steps for improving employer engagement and student outcomes.

Adaptive questionnaire & complex feedback statements

Adaptive paths let the questionnaire change dynamically based on each respondent’s answers so the flow feels personalised and efficient. Start with routing rules that use single answers, score thresholds, or combinations of responses to determine the next question. Use branching for clear decision points and conditional blocks for subtle variations. For longer assessments, apply progressive profiling so follow-up questions only appear where they add diagnostic value. The result is a 25‑minute self assessment that stays relevant to careers leaders and reduces drop‑out while collecting the precise evidence needed for robust evaluation.

Answer taxonomy and scoring

Define a consistent taxonomy for each question (e.g., practice, policy, evidence) and assign weights or scores to responses so the system can translate raw answers into meaningful measures.

Rule engine for feedback logic

Implement a rule engine that combines scores across related questions to trigger compound feedback statements (for example, “Strong employer links but weak evaluation practice”). Rules can use simple thresholds, weighted averages, or decision trees.

Modular feedback library

Create a library of modular feedback snippets mapped to specific conditions (e.g., scores, missing evidence, contradictory answers). Compose full statements by combining snippets that match the respondent’s profile, producing coherent, human‑readable guidance.

Contextualising language

Tailor tone and next steps based on role and organisation type so feedback reads like advice from a knowledgeable partner rather than generic text.

Turning questionnaire output into a high quality recommendation report

• Structure and narrative: Build reports with a clear executive summary, strengths and weaknesses, top priorities, and an action plan. Use the mapped feedback statements to populate each section and include a short explanation of how scores were derived.
• Evidence links and examples: Link each recommendation back to the specific questions and responses that generated it, and include brief examples or templates for immediate next steps.
• Prioritised recommendations: Rank recommendations by impact and effort (quick wins, medium projects, strategic change) so careers leaders can act pragmatically.
• Visuals and dashboards: Include charts for competency areas, radar plots for the nine Employer Standards, and traffic‑light indicators to make the report scannable.
• Exportable formats and accessibility: Provide downloadable PDF reports, printable one‑page summaries, and accessible text so schools, employers and hubs can share results with governors or senior leaders.

Benchmarking against regions and organisations by type

Normalised scoring

Normalise raw scores to a standard scale so results are comparable across different organisation sizes and response patterns.

Benchmark groups

Maintain benchmark cohorts such as national, regional, sector (e.g., FE colleges, secondary schools), and network types (Careers Hubs, employer networks). Allow users to select the cohort they want to compare against.

Comparative metrics

Offer percentile ranks, mean and median comparisons, and gap analysis (your score versus benchmark) for each Employer Standard and for composite indices.

Filtering and segmentation

Enable filters for region, organisation type, size and date range so careers leaders can compare against relevant peers.

Confidence and anonymity

Present benchmarking with clear notes on sample size and statistical confidence and ensure peer data is anonymised and aggregated to protect contributors.

Practical outcomes for careers leaders

A well‑designed adaptive questionnaire and evaluation tool transforms a one‑off self assessment into an ongoing improvement engine: precise feedback mapped to evidence, a prioritised and actionable recommendation report, and benchmarking that shows where you sit in your region and among similar organisations, gain timely insight and measurable routes to better employer engagement and careers provision.

If your organisation needs a tailored evaluation tool, SkillsLogic can design and deliver a secure, user-friendly self assessment and benchmarking platform that converts data into clear insight and action. Get in touch for a demo or to find out more.