Compass and Compass+ are free digital products from The Careers & Enterprise Company with features that help you to measure impact and inform continuous improvement of your careers provision.
Below we have outlined which institution types can access which product.
| Institution type | Access to Compass | Access to Compass+ |
| Alternative Provision | Yes | Yes |
| Mainstream | Yes | Yes |
| Post 16 (Academy, Sixth form) | Yes | Yes |
| Post 16 (FE - College) | Yes | No |
| SEND | Yes | Yes |
| ITPs | Yes | No |
| Independent schools | Yes | No |
| Independent special schools – including Section 41 schools that are or have previously received funding | Yes | Yes |
Any institution that wants to access Compass+ must meet the following criteria:
- They must be listed as an eligible institution type by the Department for Education
- They must use a Management Information System (MIS) that is compatible with Compass+.
Find out if your institution type is eligible to upgrade to Compass+
1. Go to the Get Information about Schools page on the GOV.UK website > https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk
2. Search for your institution using its name or reference number. When you have found your institution, click on ‘Search’ to view its record:
3. To upgrade to Compass+, your institution must be an eligible school type. Your school type is displayed in the ‘School type’ field:
4. The following table lists the school types that are eligible/not eligible to upgrade to Compass+:
|
School type |
Eligible / Not eligible to upgrade |
|
Academy 16 to 19 sponsor led |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Academy 16-19 converter |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Academy alternative provision converter |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Academy alternative provision sponsor led |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Academy converter |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Academy sponsor led |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Academy special converter |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Academy special sponsor led |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
City technology college |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Community school |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Community special school |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Free schools |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Free schools alternative provision |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Free schools 16 to 19 |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Free schools special |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Foundation school |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Foundation special school |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Further education |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Institution funded by other government department |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Other independent special school |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Pupil referral unit |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Secure units |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Sixth form centres |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Special post 16 institution |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Studio schools |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
University technical college |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Voluntary aided school |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
Voluntary controlled school |
Eligible to upgrade |
|
British schools overseas |
Not eligible to upgrade |
|
Miscellaneous |
Not eligible to upgrade |
|
Non-maintained special school |
Not eligible to upgrade |
|
Offshore schools |
Not eligible to upgrade |
|
Other independent school |
Not eligible to upgrade |
|
Service children's education |
Not eligible to upgrade |
In addition to the list above, the following institutions are not eligible to upgrade to Compass+:
- Colleges
- Institutions that have requested to do the Compass for Colleges Compass evaluation type (this evaluation type is not available in Compass+).
Management Information Systems (MIS) that are compatible with Compass+
To upgrade to Compass+, an institution must use one of the following Management Information Systems (MIS):
- Arbor
- Bromcom
- CMIS
- Compass
- Engage
- iSAMS (including Ed Gen)
- Cloud School (formerly known as Progresso)
- Pupil Asset
- RM Integris
- SchoolBase
- SchoolPod
- ScholarPack
- SEEMiS
- SIMS
- WCBS
Next steps to upgrade from Compass to Compass+
To start your upgrade to Compass+, simply login to your Compass account and click on the ‘Upgrade now’ button.
You can find out more about upgrading to Compass+ here > How to upgrade to Compass+
* Don't forget to use the yes/no down button below to let us know if you found this article helpful! *