B O N A SM A C F A R L A N E

Using Technology to Expand Access to Top Qual i ty Tutor ing

I N D E P E N D E N T E D U C A T I O N C A N V A S C A S E S T U D Y

T H E C H A L L E N G E

Bonas MacFarlane Education is one of the UK’s most

respected providers of private tuition and educational

advice. Its university team specialises in preparing

promising students for leading universities in the UK

and the USA. Formerly only o�ering one-to-one

tuitions in person or online, the company has launched

a one-year pilot project with a group of students on

100% scholarships. The aim is to use technology to

make the very best university preparation programmes

available to sixth-form students worldwide.

“This is a very di�erent project for us,” Guy

Schady-Beckett, Head of Research at Bonas

MacFarlane, explained. “The majority of the tutoring

we o�er is to students readying themselves for

Oxbridge and top US universities, who have perhaps

already received a lot of support throughout their

studies or have a firm view of their educational path.

This project is set to o�er the same tutoring

opportunities to a much wider cohort of students.

Adapting to this larger scale approach required a lot of

thought, particularly in terms of the technological

challenges involved.”

“We’ve already been using video technology for

distance tutoring, but we wanted to do things

di�erently and o�er a more enriching experience,

almost like a trial run at attending uni at age 16,” Guy

continued. “Many of the scholarship students in our

pilot study were from backgrounds where they hadn’t

had the chance to interact with peers outside of their

own area, but we were keen to bring them together

with fellow applicants from around the world.”

www.CanvasVLE.co.uk • 0800 358 4330© 2017 Instructure Inc. All rights reserved.

L O N D O N , E N G L A N D

I N I T I A T I V E : U n i v e r s i t yp r e p a r a t i o n p i l o t p r o j e c t

U S A G E : 2 7 s t u d e n t s i n i n i t i a l c o h o r t , w i t h m o r e s e t t o j o i n

S T A R T E D U S I N GC A N V A S : 2 0 1 6

B O N A S M A C F A R L A N E A N D C A N V A S

G U Y S C H A D Y - B E C K E T T

Head of Research at Bonas MacFarlane

T H E C H A N G E

To meet their requirements, Guy felt Bonas MacFarlane

needed a VLE. “Once we had mapped out the project, it was

obvious we needed something to contain the whole teaching

experience, which we couldn’t do with WebEx alone. Having

no history in this area—and as such, no preconceptions—we

could look totally neutrally. With a relatively short time to

develop courses, it was essential that the VLE we chose was

easy to pick up and the ability to customise and adapt courses

was essential.”

“We trialled Canvas for six months and the results were

clear—it’s the only VLE that felt like it belonged in a

post-Web-2.0 world,” Guy explained. “The Canvas mobile app

was miles ahead of what we had seen of the competition, and

we knew that mobile was key to our o�ering. Having an app

that mirrors the desktop experience makes it far easier for our

students to engage with courses flexibly, watch lecture videos

on the move and interact with their peers, no matter where

they are in the world.”

Value for money was also a factor for Bonas MacFarlane,

according to Guy. “We didn’t have a big onboarding as it was

a pilot run, so we needed a VLE partner that could be nimble.

The fact that we started with a relatively small cohort wasn’t an

issue; Canvas worked with us to make a package suited to

our needs. Other platforms’ pricing structures were designed

for huge institutions and made no financial sense for us.”

T H E R E S U L T S

The pilot scheme has seen positive results already, with

Canvas technology helping to facilitate strong participation

figures. Guy explained, “We’re getting 100% participation on

assignments and tutorials, which is fantastic. For live classes

the figure is currently sitting at 76% because they take place at

fixed times, which might compete with school and family

commitments. But with all the lecture recordings hosted

online, our students are able to catch up and succeed.”

With this ease of access, Canvas is also helping to facilitate

student retention. “Everyone who got through the first few

weeks is still on the course. While you can’t control for

personal factors, retention is better here than for any project

we’ve done before—80% of students are logging in every

day, which is great for part-time learning. That flexibility goes

towards reducing dropout rates,” Guy added.

“One challenge we’re working hard to meet is that in an

education context, many of our students have only previously

interacted with their classmates rather than those at other

schools. For most, collaborating via digital technology is a new

experience, too,” Guy continued. “However, we’re looking for

gradual change over time. After around five weeks, 44% of the

cohort said they enjoyed working with others, but it’s now up

to 60%. Canvas’ ability to collate feedback and ideas clearly is

making it possible to expand our students’ horizons.”

With the ongoing success of the pilot scheme, Bonas

MacFarlane is looking to the future. “One way we’re looking at

expanding the o�ering is to give international students the

chance to get a sense of the UK education system that would

otherwise be impossible. Alongside this, with less funding

going to careers advice, there’s a need to make quality

university applications guidance and preparation more

accessible for a wider range of UK students. We see Canvas

as a long-term partner in this.”

www.CanvasVLE.co.uk • 0800 358 4330© 2017 Instructure Inc. All rights reserved.

“WE TRIALLED CANVAS FOR SIX MONTHS

AND THE RESULTS WERE CLEAR—IT’S THE

ONLY VLE THAT FELT L IKE IT BELONGED

IN A POST-WEB-2.0 WORLD.”