Inclusion software for universities
Inclusion infrastructure for universities running degree and higher apprenticeships
One consistent, evidenced inclusion layer across your whole higher education (HE) apprenticeship provision, retrofitted into the operations you already run, not bolted on.
The HE reality
Three realities every HE apprenticeship provider runs on
The right inclusion software for universities is not another system to run. It is one consistent, evidenced inclusion layer inside the operations you already have. Below are the three realities it works within: read each card from its header down to what it means on the ground for a large HE provider.
A large, devolved structure
- When inclusion differs faculty to faculty, a student's experience depends on where they happen to study, and the gaps tend to surface in a complaint or a quality review.
- A reasonable adjustment you cannot evidence when it is questioned is hard to defend, however good the support actually was.
- Delivering one consistent approach for every learner and apprentice is hard when provision is spread across a large, autonomous structure.
The Disabled Students' Allowance
- The Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) is the student-facing route for individual support needs, assessed and funded per student.
- It cannot reach every learner, and your disability service's specialist capacity is finite.
- You still have to prove inclusive practice and good use of support funding across the whole provision.
Degree and higher apprenticeships
- An apprentice whose needs surface late, or who slips toward gateway before they disclose, puts timely achievement at risk; identifying needs early helps them pass end-point assessment on time.
- The reasonable adjustments you record for everyday support also serve the apprentice at end-point assessment, accepted by most awarding organisations.
- It all has to happen without extra specialist headcount or a parallel system alongside your virtual learning environment (VLE), management information system (MIS) and e-portfolio.
Fit
One inclusion layer, retrofitted into the operations you already run
Cognassist runs the graduated approach of assess, plan, do and review (APDR) across your whole provision, inside the delivery model, disability service and systems you already run. One consistent, evidenced layer for every learner and apprentice, delivered by confident non-specialists, so your specialists are amplified, not replaced.
- Sits on top of the VLE, MIS and e-portfolio you already run, never a parallel system to adopt.
- The assessment takes about 30 minutes; support plans are drafted in minutes, then agreed with the learner.
- Specialists reserved for the most complex needs; everyone else gets consistent, evidenced support as standard.
Fit
Good records are audit-grade evidence of the support you deliver
Every reasonable adjustment traces back to the assessed need it answers. That golden thread makes your evidence defensible and builds it as support happens, rather than reconstructed at audit time. Proving inclusive practice and good use of support funding becomes a by-product of everyday work, not a separate project.
- For degree and higher apprentices, the same adjustments you record for everyday support also serve them at end-point assessment, accepted by most awarding organisations.
- Cognassist provides the evidence, the apprentice's documented normal way of working; you run your awarding organisation's access-arrangement process.
- Real-time coverage feedback keeps each record audit-grade at the point of entry (Coverage Checker), with support-record PDFs and bulk evidence exports when you need them.
Proven with a university like yours · University of Exeter
Inclusion at scale across a growing degree-apprenticeship provision
The University of Exeter grew its apprenticeship provision from 16 apprentices in 2016 to 3,800 today, with an ambition of 5,000 by 2028. Cognassist is embedded at induction, not as a gateway, so every apprentice's starting point and support needs are understood early.
“Cognassist helps us understand early on what their starting point and support needs are, so we can track learners and improve achievement rates”
- 3,800apprentices, grown from 16 in 2016
- 80%+apprenticeship achievement rate, above the national average
- At inductionCognassist embedded from the start, not as a gateway
Where to go next
Find the right starting point for your provision
Two routes from here, depending on the job you feel most. Both go deeper into how it works; the demo is one click away whenever you are ready.
Deliver learner support at scale
One consistent approach across your whole provision, your specialists amplified not replaced, and no parallel system to run.
ExploreSee how universities and providers like yours use Cognassist
Read the customer stories, including the University of Exeter's degree-apprenticeship provision.
Explore
FAQ
The questions HE leaders actually ask
Is Cognassist the right inclusion software for universities and HE apprenticeship providers?
Yes. Cognassist is inclusion software for universities and HE providers running degree and higher apprenticeships: one consistent, evidenced inclusion layer across your whole provision, retrofitted into the operations you already run. It is proven with the University of Exeter's degree-apprenticeship provision.How does this work with the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)?
The Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) is the student-facing route for individual support needs, assessed and funded per student. Cognassist is the inclusion infrastructure you run across your whole provision, so the many are supported at scale and the DSA route and your disability service are reserved for the most complex needs. Cognassist helps you evidence the support you deliver; it does not claim, administer or replace DSA.We already run a VLE, MIS and e-portfolio. What does Cognassist add?
The inclusion evidence layer on top, not a replacement. Cognassist coaches the quality of each support record as it is entered, so your evidence is defensible rather than just present (Coverage Checker), and it gives leaders provision-wide oversight of evidence quality (Insights, an admin-only view). Your existing systems stay exactly as they are.Is the cognitive assessment a diagnosis?
No. The assessment measures the cognitive differences associated with specific learning differences to inform professional judgement. It is not a clinical diagnosis, and it does not by itself establish disability under the Equality Act 2010.How does this help apprentices at end-point assessment?
Assess early, support in flow, and evidence what you deliver. For degree and higher apprentices, the same reasonable adjustments you record for everyday support also serve them at end-point assessment, accepted by most awarding organisations. Cognassist provides the evidence, the apprentice's documented normal way of working; you run your awarding organisation's access-arrangement process.Does it replace our disability or student-support team?
No, it amplifies them. Confident non-specialists deliver good, evidenced routine support, so your disability and student-support specialists are reserved for the most complex needs rather than stretched across every case. The resource-allocation call stays yours.Who can see the leadership oversight?
Admins. The Insights oversight view is admin-only (built on Power BI); it is not a tutor or coach-facing dashboard. Mentors and coaches work in the learner and support-record views they need for their apprentices.
One inclusion layer across your whole HE apprenticeship provision
One consistent, evidenced approach for every learner and apprentice, retrofitted into the operations you already run, with your specialists amplified, not replaced. See it working on your own provision.