Evaluation: Huntly Learning Centre (final report)

The local authority-run learning centre in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, which offers practical careers advice, was evaluated. The evaluation sought information on how the centre was being used by the public and employers, how services and staff were rated, the benefits of the services provided and how users thought the learning centre could improve its services. It also sought to gather the views of local employers to assess the extent of their knowledge of the centre and its functions, and to assess the views of training providers who had experience of using the centre.

Information was collected from users of the centre, employers who had and had not used the centre, and training providers who had used the centre. A combination of on-site self-completion questionnaires, postal self-completion questionnaires and telephone interviews were used to gather the data.

Overall, the evaluation concluded that Huntly Learning Centre was very highly regarded by users, and that there existed a good level of awareness of the centre's activities amongst local employers.

It was recommended that: the centre should continue operating, as it had been found to be of considerable benefit to the business and residential communities of Huntly; additional facilities and courses be developed with both communities in mind; computer hardware and software should be regularly upgraded; information resources should be kept up to date; more promotion of the centre should be undertaken to enhance awareness and understanding of its activities; and immediate consideration should be given to factors which could increase usage of the facilities, particularly among the business community.