A bespoke relational database was designed for the Learning + Skills Council in South East England.

 The purpose of the database was to collate and analyse data on the provision of increased flexibility courses for 14 to 16 year olds.  The data was collected by a large number of learning providers and the challenge was to create collection tools that could be used at all of these sites.  It was not practical for all the schools and colleges to use MS Access nor could they all install a bespoke executable program.  As a result, a series of MS Excel spreadsheets were used by the learning providers to enter the raw data.  VB programming was used to enhance the functionality of the spreadsheets to ensure that the data could be entered in a straightforward and consistent manner.  Tools were also created to assist in the electronic transfer of the data from the colleges to the central database.

The project involved providing hands-on training to large numbers of personnel and telephone and email support for an extended period.