What is a Compass evaluation?
A Compass evaluation enables institutions to quickly and easily evaluate their careers activity against the eight benchmarks of best practice – known as the Gatsby Benchmarks.
The Compass evaluation feature was built in partnership with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to help Careers Leaders easily discover their institution’s strengths and find areas for improvement.
Completing a Compass evaluation is simple: just answer the questions in the evaluation and Compass/Compass+ will calculate the evaluation results for you.
What types of Compass evaluation are there and which one is right for me?
There are three types of Compass evaluation:
- Compass evaluation for Schools
- Compass evaluation for Special Schools
- Compass evaluation for Post 16
If you use Compass, you can access the School, Special Schools or Post 16 evaluation type. Find out more about using the Compass evaluation in Compass here.
If you have upgraded to Compass +, you can access the School and Special Schools evaluations only.
View the questions for each evaluation type here > Compass evaluation type questions.
If you're in a SEND setting and you're not sure which Compass evaluation type to use, please refer to this Help Centre article for further guidance > I'm not sure I have the right Compass evaluation type for my institution, what should I do?
What are the benefits of completing a Compass evaluation?
- Systematically monitor your institution's progress towards achieving the eight Gatsby Benchmarks
- Quickly and easily identify gaps in your careers provision
- Identify areas of strength in your careers provision
- Use results to support Internal leadership reviews
- Compare your progress against previous Compass evaluations
- Compare your progress against other institutions in your area/CEC Hub.
How long does it take to complete a Compass evaluation?
A Compass evaluation takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.
If you start an evaluation but need to stop half way through, you can save your progress anytime and come back to it later to finish answering the questions.
How can I use Compass evaluation results to improve and enhance my institution's careers provision?
Compass evaluation data can be used in a variety of ways to support the delivery of an effective careers provision.
Please note : usage differs slightly if you use Compass. Find out more here.
- Incorporate Compass evaluation results in reporting processes for key careers stakeholders i,e SLT/Governors
Use Dashboard visualisations to quickly analyse the data and provide a summary overview of your results. Include actions and activities you intend to deliver to improve or maintain results.
- Use Compass evaluation results to support Internal leadership reviews
Complete a Compass evaluation every term, then use this data to inform your annual Internal leadership review (further guidance on this can be found here > Careers Impact System.)
- Compass evaluations contribute towards effective Impact Evaluation
Effective impact evaluation identifies what difference the careers programme makes to young people. Understanding the link between careers activities and outcomes for young people helps to ensure that careers programmes are high quality, effective and responsive. Often what makes a difference is not just what the activity is, but how it is delivered. Find out more about impact evaluation on the Resource Directory.
- Communicate results and progress to key stakeholders
Help to increase engagement in and awareness of careers to make improvements that ensure every young person is able to find their best next step.
You could publish Compass evaluation results on the Careers page of your institution's website, share progress towards achieving the Gatsby Benchmarks with staff at CPD events/staff training, send information home to parents/carers about what you plan to do as a result of your Compass evaluation and how it links to the support provided to their children.
- Use Compass evaluation data to inform your careers strategy and inform future planning
Compass evaluation results help to quickly identify key areas for future activity and enable staff to have a clear and up-to-date picture of performance.
How does Compass/Compass+ help me to understand my Compass evaluation results?
If you use Compass, find out more here.
Detailed results page
For each Benchmark, click 'Show details' to view a detailed breakdown of your results:
The detailed breakdown will show you assessment areas that you are achieving, areas that are in progress and areas that need addressing.
There is a link to the Resource Directory at the bottom of each detailed breakdown signposting you to relevant resources that may help you to improve your Benchmark scores.
Click 'Hide details' to collapse the detailed breakdown and return to your results overview:
Dashboard Data visualisations
An at-a-glance view of your Benchmark scores, and how your institution compares to others.
You can also see how your i9nstitution's latest results compare to past evaluations, and see how your planned/completed activities might improve your Benchmark performance.