Evidence that regulators recognise
Show your contribution to local skills needs, wellbeing and regional outcomes in a form that funders and regulators can follow.
Who We Help: Further Education
Measure the social value of your institution
Accredited SROI reporting for further and higher education providers.
As funding becomes more competitive across further and higher education, providers need to show the difference they make to learners, employers and their local area. The Social Value Engine gives you a consistent, accredited way to measure that impact in SROI terms and report it with confidence.
The pressure
Funding is tighter, and the case for your institution has to be stronger
Funding tied to learner numbers and short cycles leaves little room to demonstrate wider worth, yet that wider worth is increasingly what funders, partners and regulators want to see. In Wales, reporting social value is expected of public bodies. In Scotland, outcomes agreements ask providers to evidence regional contribution. In England, new inspection standards and the local skills agenda put fresh weight on the difference an institution makes beyond results.
The barrier most institutions face is capacity. Staff time is stretched, and another reporting system is the last thing anyone needs. The Social Value Engine is designed to reduce that load, not add to it.
The platform
Measure, report, maximise
The Social Value Engine is a measurement platform accredited by Social Value International, built on fifteen years of methodology and used by more than 250 organisations. It turns your activity into a defensible SROI figure, backed by a library of over 650 UK proxies, so you can show the financial and social return your institution generates for learners, employers and the wider community. You structure your outcomes, record your data and produce reports that hold up to scrutiny, whether you are responding to a funder, a governing body or an inspection self-assessment.
A consistent year-on-year picture
Build a track record you can use to defend funding and pursue commercial partnerships and franchising opportunities.
Independently assured, not self-declared
Have your proxy selection and final figures assured through Social Value Direct, giving your numbers independent credibility.
15 yrs
of methodology
250+
organisations
650+
UK proxies
SVI
accredited
My Impact
Give learners a way to see and show their own impact
My Impact is a learner-facing tool, powered by the Social Value Engine, that lets students and apprentices log the contribution they make through volunteering, work placements, enrichment and community activity. That activity is valued using the same accredited SROI methodology, giving learners evidence of their wider development that can strengthen applications for employment and further study.
Working with providers including Loughborough College · Available for pilot
How it fits together
One picture, from learner to institution to place
Learner activity captured in My Impact feeds into your organisational view, and the Social Value Engine turns your institutional activity into an accredited SROI account. Place Explorer can sit alongside this to ground your reporting in the real needs of your local area, which matters for outcomes agreements, LSIP contribution and any case built around regional impact. You can start with one product and add the others as your reporting develops.
Learner
My Impact
Students and apprentices log their everyday contribution, valued in SROI terms.
Find out moreInstitution
Social Value Engine
Your organisational activity becomes a defensible, accredited SROI account.
Find out morePlace
Place Explorer
Ground your reporting in the real needs of your local area and region.
Find out moreRepresentative bodies and networks
Evidence collective impact across your network
Representative bodies, training federations and skills networks face a different challenge. You cannot require members to report, and every member measures differently, which makes it hard to show what your network delivers as a whole. The Social Value Engine gives your members a standardised, accredited method, so the impact they each evidence adds up into a consistent picture you can put in front of government, funders and partners.
That collective SROI account strengthens the case for investment and reform, demonstrates the value of membership, and gives you credible thought leadership grounded in real figures rather than estimates. For some networks it also becomes something you can offer members directly, as a benefit they provide on their behalf.
Who this is for
Every type of provider, one consistent methodology
| Provider type | Primary use case | Relevant reporting context |
|---|---|---|
| General FE college | Learner outcomes, employer partnerships, community impact | Ofsted self-assessment, ESFA accountability, LSIP contribution |
| Sixth form college | Academic and wider wellbeing outcomes, community benefit | Ofsted inspection, local authority funding |
| Apprenticeship provider | Employer social value, learner career and wellbeing outcomes | ESFA register, employer contracts, DWP programmes |
| Higher education institution | Regional economic contribution, graduate and community outcomes | TEF, UKRI funding, regional partnership reporting |
| Independent training provider | Programme-level SROI for bid evidence and contract reporting | UKSPF, devolved funds, DWP, combined authority grants |
| Representative body or network | Collective sector impact narrative across member organisations | Government advocacy, AELP, AoC, membership value |
Common questions
Questions we are often asked
What is SROI and why does it matter for further education providers?
Social Return on Investment (SROI) is an internationally recognised framework for measuring the social, environmental and economic value of activities. For FE providers, SROI evidence demonstrates the wider contribution of the institution to learners, employers and the local community. It is increasingly expected by funders, used in outcomes agreements and supports bids for Local Skills Improvement Plan funding, regional investment programmes and inspection self-assessment.
Which regulators and funding bodies recognise SROI evidence from FE providers?
SROI evidence produced to Social Value International standards is recognised by Ofsted, the Education and Skills Funding Agency, Welsh Government, Medr (the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research in Wales), the Scottish Funding Council, and an increasing number of local authorities and combined authorities commissioning skills provision. In Wales, reporting social value is expected of funded bodies under the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
Does the Social Value Engine work for apprenticeship providers and training organisations?
Yes. The platform is used across the full FE landscape, including general FE colleges, sixth form colleges, higher education institutions, independent training providers and apprenticeship providers. The proxy library covers outcomes relevant to skills and employability programmes, and you can structure SROI accounts around individual programmes, employer partnerships or the institution as a whole.
What is My Impact and how does it connect to the Social Value Engine?
My Impact is a learner-facing product that lets students and apprentices log the social contribution they make through volunteering, work placements, enrichment and community activity. That activity is valued using the same accredited SROI methodology. For institutions, My Impact includes an organisational dashboard that aggregates learner activity into an institutional picture, feeding into the broader SROI account. It is available for pilot with FE providers.
Can a representative body or training federation show collective impact?
Yes. The Social Value Engine can aggregate impact across a network of member organisations using a consistent, accredited methodology. This gives representative bodies a collective SROI account they can present to government, funders and partners, strengthening the case for sector investment and policy reform.
See what it would look like for your organisation
A short discovery call is the quickest way to understand the fit. We will talk through your funding and reporting pressures, show you the platform, and set out a realistic way to get started.
