Trust Structure and Background
Advance Learning Partnership (ALP) comprises a network of 23 schools, 14 primary and 9 secondary academies, each supported by local governance groups.
Identifying the Need for Change
As the Trust expanded, governance meetings increased in both volume and complexity.
Minute-taking became challenging due to manual recording, transcription, and formatting minutes.
We identified an opportunity to modernise and streamline the process in order to increase efficiency and consistency, freeing up staff for higher-value activities.
We sought an AI-driven tool that could:
- Accurately transcribe meeting discussions
- Reliably identify individual speakers
- Highlight actions and evidence of effective governance
- Support compliance and reporting requirements
Exploring Solutions - Why we Chose Scriba
The governance team reviewed and trialled several AI transcription tools.
Most solutions failed to meet the specific needs of multi-academy trust governance, especially speaker identification and capturing challenge and action.
During this process, the team discovered Scriba’s tools, specifically designed for the education sector.
An initial demo highlighted Scriba’s tailored features and compliance with data protection requirements.
Reassured by its security and sector fit, the team launched a targeted pilot across selected schools and meetings.
Implementation: Training and Support
Roll out began with comprehensive onboarding from Scriba’s dedicated training team.
Training was cascaded internally to clerks across the Trust.
Sessions covered technical setup, device compatibility, and best practice for in-person meeting use.
Ongoing support from the Scriba team was readily available throughout.
The pilot included a cross-section of Trustee and academy governance meetings.
Scriba’s tools were used to record and generate minutes across these meetings.
Results and Impact
Initial trial outcomes were overwhelmingly positive.
Schools reported a significant reduction in time spent producing accurate, well-structured minutes.
Turnaround times improved dramatically, with minutes often ready within an hour.
AI speaker identification proved highly reliable.
The tool automatically highlighted actions and evidence of challenge/support.
Improved quality and consistency of minutes, with fewer errors and omissions.
Broader Application and Future Plans
Following the success of the pilot, the Trust is now expanding the use of Scriba into HR and Procurement. We anticipate that the long-term benefits will include improved workload and enhanced consistency across the Trust. The tool’s scalability means that as the Trust grows, our minute-taking capability can keep pace without increasing the administrative burden.
What Our Colleagues Say
"Scriba is a god-send. We need this system for all meetings!"
"What normally can take days to type, check and have approved is all done in a matter of minutes; absolutely brilliant tool!"