Manchester Adult Education Service: Creating a Digital Platform for Language Learning

Languages/Frameworks
  • React
  • Styled Components
  • Firebase
  • GCP
Manchester Adult Education Service

A Partnership for Progress

Helping communities stay connected

The Manchester Adult Education Service (MAES), part of Manchester City Council, partnered with Counter to tackle the challenges faced during the Coronavirus pandemic when it came to delivering their Talk English programme remotely. Funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Talk English supports people with low levels of English to improve their language skills, access services and get more involved in the community.

Engagement Overview

  • Client
    • Manchester Adult Education Services, part of Manchester City Council
  • Project Duration
    • 6 months
  • Counter Team Size
    • 2 Software Engineers + 1 Tech Lead
  • Technologies
    • React, Styled Components, Firebase, Google Cloud Platform

The Challenge

Lockdown barriers and learning solutions

When Covid-19 lockdowns restricted in-person learning, MAES faced challenges in delivering their TalkEnglish programme remotely. They were relying on a messaging system which didn’t quite deliver what it needed to. Counter and MAES came together to discuss a user-centred solution to bridge gaps in digital literacy, language proficiency, and access to technology. The partnership brought together technical expertise and a shared commitment to social impact and ultimately, providing people with education.

MAES needed to: 

  1. Create a simple, customisable mobile-first solution that enables learners to access the app any time, anywhere.
  2. Create a safe and interactive space for learners to engage with teachers and peers during lockdown.
  3. Enable learners to track and evidence progress.
  4. Integrate features like learning plans, assessments, and resource sharing in one place.

With limited time and resources, MAES required a scalable, intuitive solution to bridge this gap.

The Approach

The Counter consultancy approach

Our approach allowed us to deliver a solution that met MAES’ immediate needs while laying the groundwork for future innovation.

  • Incremental Development

    Our incrementalist approach allowed for continuous feedback and improvement. Regular updates and prototypes kept the MAES team involved and informed at every stage, ensuring alignment with their vision and user needs.
  • Collaboration and Training

    While MAES’s Programme Lead, Nuala Trace, led the staff training, Counter provided small training sessions, product demos, and refinement sessions. These sessions, conducted with Nuala and the team, were instrumental in developing new features and conducting user testing.
  • Ongoing Maintenance

    Dedicated development time was included in the contract to ensure ongoing app iterations and the addition of new features over time. Live maintenance support was also a key component, ensuring the app remained reliable and up-to-date.

The team really listened to our needs and worked with us to deliver something that met our goals within our timeframe and budget. It’s already making a difference.

Nuala Trace, the TalkEnglish Programme Lead

Successes Delivered

Through the partnership and the development of the TalkEnglish app, several key successes were achieved:

Empowered learners

The app’s user-friendly interface and accessibility features have empowered learners to take charge of their educational journeys.

Recognition from stakeholders

The innovative approach taken by the partnership garnered positive feedback from local authorities and other education providers, with interest in replicating the model.

Community integration

By enabling learners to access courses remotely, the app has strengthened community ties and helped individuals engage more actively with local services and networks.

Scalable solution

The app has demonstrated its potential to be adapted for other educational programmes, laying a foundation for future growth and innovation.

We're really pleased with the app, and we see so much potential for how we're going to use it. We've been using it for a month now, and we're constantly finding new ways that we could use it, both in and out of the classroom to support learners to learn independently, consolidate what they've learned in class, and feel ownership of their learning. I think it's brilliant that it's on the phone, because the vast majority of our students have smartphones, but again, most of them don't have any other kind of device to use.

Nuala Trace, Tech Lead on Talk English Engagement.

Collaboration That Drives Impact

Human-first design meets real-world need

Counter’s partnership with Manchester Adult Education Service highlights the power of bespoke digital solutions in addressing real-world challenges. By combining technical expertise with a human-centric approach, Counter delivered a tool that not only met immediate needs but also paved the way for future innovation in community learning. Together, the teams worked to design a user-centric digital platform that directly addressed the needs of MAES’s diverse learner base, ensuring inclusivity and long-term sustainability.

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