In short
Performance Learning helps further education colleges improve learner retention and progression. Foresight identifies learners who are emotionally disconnected before it shows in attendance or performance, SOAR builds a personalised path back to motivation and achievement, risk-based coaching supports those most at risk, and Thrive+ prepares learners for work. Dr Tej Samani's research includes a 2021 case study in UK further education.
What is the challenge for further education colleges?
Further education faces a unique combination of pressures:
- funding linked to retention
- disengaged learners who disappear without warning
- fragile motivation and limited accountability structures
- rising pressure to deliver work-ready outcomes
Most platforms address one of these issues. Performance Learning brings diagnostics, coaching and learning together so your college can tackle them as one problem.
How does Performance Learning help colleges retain learners?
In FE, disengagement isn’t always loud. It is often silent, internal and missed until a learner has already stopped attending. Performance Learning combines three tools to catch it early.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Foresight | Identifies when a learner is emotionally disconnected, before it shows up in attendance or performance, by tracking the emotional, behavioural and cognitive patterns that predict dropout risk, disengagement or stagnation |
| SOAR | Builds a tailored path back to focus, motivation and achievement, with personalised online programmes to help learners gain higher grades |
| Thrive+ | Helps learners get workplace-ready, from developing performance behaviours to identifying the sectors they want to apply for |
How does risk-based coaching work in a college?
Programmes only work if learners are ready to engage. Foresight shows you who is ready and who isn’t, and Performance Learning’s in-house team provides support scaled by need.
| Risk level | Approach |
|---|---|
| High | Coaching, family engagement and motivational work, delivered by Performance Learning |
| Moderate | Small-group coaching or digital pathways, flexible by cohort or year group |
| Low | Platform-driven, self-led growth, managed by your staff and backed by SOAR |
Whether you are building a tutoring model or boosting in-house provision, Performance Learning supports the whole process, from mindset to metrics.
How does it fit tutorial reviews and quality processes?
Performance Learning is designed to strengthen the systems your college already runs.
- Tutorial and learner reviews. In-depth individual feedback on performance, wellbeing and skills gives tutors a basis for SMART targets in ProMonitor or other e-portfolio systems.
- Distance travelled. Mid-year assessments show progress and are easy to extract into e-portfolios, with summative end-of-year assessments for progression.
- Teaching and learning. Insight into how each learner learns best supports differentiated teaching, and group profiles support planning and observation.
- Observation and planning. In-depth group profiles support observation processes as well as planning, teaching and learning.
How does it help predict and raise achievement?
Performance Learning gives departments and senior leaders a more robust way of predicting achievement, based on an in-depth understanding of current academic performance, mental wellbeing and barriers to learning.
- At-risk learners are clearly identified, with intervention plans for staff to follow to support low-achieving learners.
- Your quality processes get an accurate picture of achievement at subject sector area level, supporting improvements in teaching, learning and personal development.
- Individualised online programmes help learners work towards higher grades.
How does it strengthen learner voice?
Learner perception and satisfaction surveys, on induction and on course, are key to college KPIs and are evidence for Ofsted, particularly around safeguarding and teaching and learning. Performance Learning identifies learners’ perceptions of their learning and of the college in advance, so you can intervene before surveys are released.
It also makes learner voice and focus groups more meaningful, because learners are learning about themselves and their own development at the college.
What is Thrive+?
For many learners, college is the final step before work, and they need more than academic targets. Thrive+ is Performance Learning’s built-in work-readiness module, giving learners:
- workplace behaviours and professionalism training
- entrepreneurial mindset development
- emotional intelligence in real-world environments
- work-ready CVs and employment profiles, including a one-page CV and a 30-page employment profile
What does the research say?
Retention and progression in further education have been a focus of Dr Tej Samani’s research. In 2021 he co-authored a Springer book chapter with Ana Isabel Canhoto and Esin Yoruk: Improving the Retention and Progression of Learners Through Intelligent Systems for Diagnosing Metacognitive Competencies – A Case Study in UK Further Education. You can find it, with Dr Tej’s other peer-reviewed work, on our research page.
More broadly, students using Performance Learning improved by an average of 2.4 grades against their predicted grades (Thomas et al., 2024, an analysis of 940 students led by Birkbeck’s Centre for Educational Neuroscience).
Performance Learning also works with schools from Year 4 upwards. Plans are priced per learner and depend on scope; see our pricing options.
Frequently asked questions
How does Performance Learning help with learner retention?
Foresight identifies when a learner is emotionally disconnected, before it shows up in attendance or performance. It tracks the emotional, behavioural and cognitive patterns that predict dropout risk, disengagement or stagnation. SOAR then responds with a personalised pathway back to focus and motivation, and learners at highest risk receive coaching from Performance Learning's in-house team.
Can the results feed into tutorial reviews and e-portfolios?
Yes. Performance Learning gives in-depth individual feedback on each learner's performance, wellbeing and skills, which tutors can use to set SMART targets in ProMonitor or other e-portfolio systems. Mid-year assessments show distance travelled and can be extracted into the learner's e-portfolio, and summative end-of-year assessments support decisions about progression.
What is Thrive+?
Thrive+ is Performance Learning's built-in work-readiness module for learners who are close to entering work. It covers workplace behaviours and professionalism, entrepreneurial mindset, and emotional intelligence in real-world environments. It also helps learners identify the sectors they want to apply for, and gives them a one-page CV and a 30-page employment profile.
Can Performance Learning help us prepare for Ofsted?
It gives you a clear evidence base. Learner voice matters for college KPIs and for Ofsted, particularly around safeguarding and teaching and learning. Performance Learning identifies learners' perceptions of their learning and of the college early, so you can act before satisfaction surveys are released, and it shows the interventions in place and the distance learners have travelled.
Who delivers the coaching?
Coaching is scaled by need. Learners rated high risk receive coaching, family engagement and motivational work delivered by Performance Learning's in-house team. Moderate-risk learners get small-group coaching or digital pathways, flexible by cohort or year group, and low-risk learners follow platform-driven, self-led growth managed by your staff and backed by SOAR.
How is learner data protected?
Performance Learning processes personal data in line with GDPR and protects it with strict security measures, including encryption and secure servers, with access limited to authorised personnel. Your college keeps control over the data it shares, who it is shared with and for how long. Performance Learning also has a Data Protection Officer you can contact with any questions.
What research supports Performance Learning in further education?
Dr Tej Samani co-authored a 2021 Springer book chapter with Ana Isabel Canhoto and Esin Yoruk titled Improving the Retention and Progression of Learners Through Intelligent Systems for Diagnosing Metacognitive Competencies: A Case Study in UK Further Education. More broadly, students using Performance Learning improved by an average of 2.4 grades against their predicted grades, according to an analysis of 940 students led by Birkbeck's Centre for Educational Neuroscience (Thomas et al., 2024).