Transforming Student Outcomes: How London South Bank University Achieved Targeted Impact with Symplicity 

The Challenge: Supporting Social Mobility Through Targeted Interventions 

London South Bank University (LSBU) has built its reputation on fostering social mobility, welcoming students from diverse widening participation backgrounds who often face unique challenges in securing positive graduate outcomes. For Grant McNeill, Head of Employability and Placements, the challenge wasn't just about providing excellent career services—it was about proving measurable impact in an increasingly results-driven higher education landscape. 

"Universities at the moment have to be impact driven," explains McNeill, who joined LSBU in 2019. "While we do fantastic outputs, we need to be able to measure the impact of those outputs on students, on graduate outcomes." 

The university's data revealed a concerning pattern: graduate outcome challenges weren't affecting all students equally. Instead, specific demographics within cohorts were struggling more than others, requiring targeted rather than blanket interventions.

The Solution: Flexibility and Precision with Symplicity 

LSBU, a Symplicity partner since 2019, rolled out Symplicity's CareerHub to create a comprehensive system capable of delivering personalised student support at scale. The key breakthrough came through Symplicity's flexible workflow capabilities, which allowed the university to design custom processes that ensured students were better prepared for career appointments. 

Innovative Workflow Design 

One of LSBU's most successful innovations was creating qualifying criteria for CV appointments. Students now must: 

• Prepare a draft CV before booking 

• Submit their CV to AI technology for initial feedback and scoring 

• Meet specific engagement requirements 

"What happens now is when we have CV appointments, they're very targeted," McNeill notes. "So we can use the time really wisely to actually apply for internships, to actually apply for graduate schemes." 

This approach transformed one-on-one appointments from basic CV reviews into strategic application sessions, dramatically improving the value of each student interaction. 

Impressive Results and Impact 

Operational Efficiency 

The implementation has delivered remarkable efficiency gains: 

"If I was to put a figure on it, I would say that having the system is worth having three staff members." 

This operational impact allows the team to support more students while maintaining high-quality, personalised service. 

Precision Targeting 

Symplicity's segmentation capabilities have revolutionised how LSBU identifies and supports at-risk students: 

"We can just design and develop reports where we can go, how long that student has engaged in any kind of career registration process. They haven't had any appointments, they haven't done any of the activities. And that student we know, from our graduate outcomes data is most likely at risk of leaving the university without a positive graduate outcome." 

Strategic Transformation 

The platform has fundamentally reshaped LSBU's approach to employability: 

"Based on the new employability strategy around Symplicity and around CareerHub—if we didn't have that product, employability strategy would look very different. Being able to increase our graduate outcomes by targeted interventions would not be possible without Symplicity."

Key Features Driving Success 

Advanced Segmentation 

"The most impressive feature is being able to segment students," McNeill emphasises. This capability allows LSBU to identify specific student populations with lower graduate outcomes and design targeted interventions. 

Skills-Based Monitoring 

The university now operates on a skills-based model, monitoring what skills students need for specific industries and tracking their development throughout their academic journey. 

Comprehensive Data Integration 

By combining career registration data with targeted interventions and touchpoint tracking, LSBU ensures no student falls through the cracks. 

Partnership, Not Just Technology 

Beyond the technical capabilities, LSBU values Symplicity's approach to customer support: 

"The customer support is second to none. Incredibly responsive. If there's an urgent issue, you can raise a ticket or you can just email directly and someone will be on to it... It doesn't feel like a supplier relationship—it feels like a partnership." 

This collaborative approach enables rapid problem-solving and creative solution development, typically within 1-2 weeks of identifying a need. 

Looking Forward: A Data-Driven Future 

LSBU's success with Symplicity demonstrates the power of combining flexible technology with strategic thinking about student support. By moving beyond generic career services to data-driven, targeted interventions, the university has created a model that other institutions can learn from. 

The transformation at LSBU shows that when universities have the right tools to identify at-risk students, create efficient workflows, and measure impact, they can dramatically improve graduate outcomes whilst operating more efficiently. 

For institutions serious about demonstrating measurable impact on student careers, LSBU's experience with Symplicity offers a compelling blueprint for success. 

Future developments include: 

• Expanding services to include finance-related presentations 

• Developing schemes to better connect returning students with opportunities 

• Creating greater visibility for the 1,000-2,000 job offers representing some of the UK's best companies 

Ready to transform your institution's approach to student employability?

Contact Symplicity to learn how data-driven career services can improve your graduate outcomes.