The Two Counties Trust Builds a Learning and Development Platform That Works Across Nine Academies

Background

The Two Counties Trust manages nine secondary academies across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Its central office supports key business functions across all of them, so school leaders can focus on teaching rather than administration.

Professional development sits at the centre of that support. The Trust wanted every member of staff to have a clear path to grow, with the tools to track it.

The Challenge

Their existing system couldn’t keep up.

It couldn’t handle varied course content well. There was no reliable way to see who had completed what. Staff had no straightforward way to sign up for courses, complete assessments, earn certificates, or register for events.

There was no central channel for news and updates either.

For a Trust running nine schools from one central function, real gaps emerged. These included oversight, staff experience, and the ability to manage development at scale.

What the Two Counties Trust needed

A single platform to manage courses, quizzes, events and news across the organisation
Individual progress tracking, visible to administrators
A self-service experience for staff, with enrolment, certification and event registration in one place
The ability to approve or reject external course requests centrally
A solution built within their existing Microsoft environment

The Solution:

A Learning and Development Platform

One platform for the whole Trust

Bespoke built a single learning and development platform on Microsoft Power Platform and Dataverse for Teams, with a Canvas app at its core.

It sits within the Trust’s existing Microsoft environment. No new systems to learn. No data leaving the organisation.

Full control for administrators

Administrators track individual staff progress across all nine academies from one place, and approve or reject external course requests centrally with full visibility.

They create and manage courses, quizzes, events and news from the same panel, and update the platform’s branding without technical help.

A clear path for staff

Staff enrol in courses, complete quizzes, earn certifications and register for events, all without chasing anyone.

A personalised profile page shows each person what they’ve completed and what’s coming up, so they can see exactly where they are.

Continuing the Trust’s Approach to Staff Development

Professional development at The Two Counties Trust extends beyond course delivery.

More recently, the Trust worked with Bespoke XYZ on a Copilot + Power Envisioning & Proof of Concept Workshop to explore how AI, automation, and Microsoft technologies could support staff workload and operational processes.

“The workshop showed us what AI can do”

“The workshop showed us what AI can do and how it can help us work smarter. Being able to discuss the organisation’s specific needs made it easier to explore where AI could add benefit, with strong potential to reduce time spent on routine work.”

– Debbie Duggan

“The workshop gave us a clearer understanding of the technology”

“The workshop gave us a clearer understanding of the technology available to us, how AI is developing, and where it could be applied within education. The examples and expertise shared will help us put processes in place that support staff workload while giving us better operational and teaching data.”

– Bradley Wragg

The Two Counties Trust can now

Create and publish courses, quizzes, events and news updates from a single admin panel
Monitor individual staff progress across all nine academies from one place
Give staff a clear view of their own completed and upcoming development
Approve or reject external course requests centrally, with full visibility
Manage platform content and branding without relying on technical resource

The Outcome

The Trust now has a platform that works at the scale it operates at. Administrators have the visibility they need. Staff have an experience that respects their time.

Professional development is consistent and trackable across nine academies. It is managed centrally, so it doesn’t add extra work for those who deliver it.