Background
As a certified B Corp, Framework Training is built on ethical principles and a commitment to the highest corporate and social responsibility standards. Verified by B Lab for exceptional social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability, we use our business as a force for good - creating positive impact for our people, communities, clients and the planet.
Supporting purpose-driven organisations is at the heart of what we do. That’s why we were proud to offer complimentary places to two inspiring academic institutions - the University of Glasgow and Ayrshire College - as part of our pledge to help purpose-driven organisations.
We spoke with both to learn more about them and discover how partnering with us as their training provider added value to their organisation.
Background to not-for-profits
The University of Glasgow is a world top 100 university and a member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK research universities. Shabana Khan is Head of Data and Applications at the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, part of the Glasgow Clinical Trials Unit. Shabana and her software development team conduct and support collaborative research in clinical trials and other studies as part of the university’s School of Health and Wellbeing within the College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences.
The team has designed and delivered robust, secure systems for over 30 years, with extensive expertise in the development of novel electronic tools to support data collection and validation, enhancing the conduct of clinical research. These key activities facilitate efficient management and data collection in clinical trials, which is crucial for gathering scientific evidence about medical interventions. The clinical trials are regulated by The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA); this requires the team to follow strict rules around their software development and ensure they design systems that are robust and secure.
Ayrshire College is a further education institution in Scotland, employing over 800 staff members in management, curriculum and support roles. It serves Ayrshire and surrounding areas and has around 13,000 students annually across campuses in Ayr, Kilmarnock and Kilwinning. Alan Farroll is Senior Systems Developer in the Business Intelligence and Information Systems [BIIS] department. For the past decade, the BIIS department has developed bespoke web-based applications with the following functions:
Support data-driven decision-making by providing institutional insights through data analysis and reporting tools.
Enhance operational efficiency by digitally streamlining administrative and academic processes and automating routine tasks.
Facilitate student support by delivering systems that track student progression to improve learning outcomes and student performance.
Supporting Business Needs
Both institutions were enthusiastic about the opportunity to take part in the complementary training, and the timing couldn’t have been better. The Robertson Centre for Biostatistics developers had been using .NET for software development and needed to upgrade their skills to keep up with evolving technology.
Over at Ayrshire College, many in-house BIIS web applications were built using older Microsoft technologies no longer actively developed within industry - and now considered legacy. Changing business needs exposed the tools’ limitations, making it harder for the team to efficiently maintain and enhance the applications, which play a critical role across the College. It was essential for the team to learn modern, scalable and future-proof technologies to rebuild the suite of ageing applications. .NET MVC was chosen because the team already had strong expertise in .NET and C#, and it offers several key benefits—such as the MVC pattern that enables a clear separation of concerns, which makes testing, maintenance, and future updates much easier. With senior leadership’s endorsement, the team were keen to upskill and modernise their skillset so the timing was perfect!
The Brief and our Response
Given the widespread use and critical importance of BIIS applications across Ayrshire College, the team needed high-quality training to rebuild problematic legacy systems and upgrade their skills. They needed a syllabus that would take the team from beginner to advanced .NET MVC and offer theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience within a short timeframe. Engaging a trainer with an extensive knowledge of MVC, a proven track record of building real-world applications and great communication skills and pacing was essential.
After reviewing our syllabus, the team concluded it was perfectly tailored to their needs. The content balanced foundational topics essential for all MVC applications with advanced features. The programme laid a solid theoretical foundation for rebuilding their legacy projects in MVC, starting with fundamentals and gradually advancing to more complex concepts — mitigating the risk of being overwhelmed.
For the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, Shabana was delighted that Frameworking Training could tailor the course to match the specific needs of her team, and felt reassured after speaking to our Managing Director, Ian Watson. They wanted to introduce DevOps, upgrading their skills with a focus on API development and were seeking an integrated, customised course. Shabana found Ian's extensive knowledge and expertise around development and the merits of different technologies valuable.
The Solution
Our experienced instructor, Jasper, delivered four days of remote online training in ASP.NET Core MVC to both organisations. We designed a course that balanced theory and lectures, code demonstrations and interactive labs and progressively built the learners’ knowledge, tailored to create an engaging and customised learning experience.
This enabled the delegates to acquire the appropriate technical skills and gain valuable insights and problem-solving methods from an expert programmer.#
Feedback
The feedback from both Ayrshire College and the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics has been glowing and they provided insights in the following areas:
Trainer
The team at Ayrshire College was impressed with Jasper and considered him an expert in MVC with extensive technical knowledge. He presented technical content in a clear, logical and engaging teaching style and shared valuable insights from real-world programming experiences which brought the concepts to life. They found him to be approachable and a great communicator, which enriched the quality of the training and course materials documents. His expertise reached beyond the MVC syllabus, offering valuable insights into related topics like IDEs and browser behaviour.
Jasper adapted the pace to suit the learners' needs; devoting ample time to more challenging topics, while avoiding unnecessary focus on simpler content, and encouraging questions. Complex technical concepts were explained clearly and learners felt confident and empowered as a result.
The Robertson Centre for Biostatistics had a similar experience, finding Jasper to be personable, knowledgeable and engaging. He was available for support before the training and answered technical questions swiftly. Chris Graham said, “He was good at communicating his knowledge in an accessible way; providing general theory and breaking it down into practical examples”. Greg Dawson observed that Jasper effectively accommodated varying learning paces by offering optional tasks and extra time, keeping faster learners engaged while giving others space to complete core work without pressure. This approach minimised catch-up time, enhancing session efficiency.
Course Content
At Ayrshire College, they appreciated a shallower, more digestible dive into the technical content. Although the training didn’t go into deep theory, it was intentionally focused. Drawing on his expensive industry experience, Jasper led practical sessions such as building CRUD operations, and guided the learners toward further materials for deeper exploration. Alan said, “He somehow managed to compress the important stuff into four days with no fillers. We came away thinking, we know what we need to know”.
Robbie Thompson and John Donnelly said, “The training successfully balanced introductory topics such as routing, controllers/actions, views (Razor) and models with advanced features like dependency injection, tag helpers and filters”.
Over at the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, Chris was also impressed. “It was a really good balance of breadth and depth. The theoretical and practical elements were particularly well integrated, and this cemented the course content”. The team appreciated the opportunity to explore features they may not use now but might be valuable going forward, such as test-driven development. They felt Jasper not only showed how to apply concepts like dependency injection but also explained their value clearly. This made their code more modular, testable, and extendable.
Course Materials
Ayrshire College found our training materials to be of exceptional quality with clear, well-structured and easy-to-follow theoretical content. Compared to other materials they’d seen, which were often dry, our resources stood out for their richness and clarity.
The team at the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics were impressed, too! The extensive resources allowed them to refresh their memory and expand their knowledge after the training.
Impact and Learning Outcomes
When applying the knowledge and skills from the training, Ayrshire College has already seen the benefit. The team is building business-critical websites that include important forms and sensitive information; they're making strong progress thanks to the training and are confident in the quality and durability of their work. They’ve also revamped their departmental website using the newly acquired skills, turning it into a dynamic showcase of the team’s expertise and the meaningful impact they deliver across the wider business via multiple projects. The learners have also shared their knowledge with other team members, passing on expertise thanks to the high quality of the training.
For the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, the training has provided a solid foundation for further exploration of the skills learned, especially as they plan to upgrade their software over the next 12 months. Greg observed that they’d developed a stronger understanding of C# and MVC, which has helped to improve their confidence in applying the language to current testing tasks. This will also play a key role in future projects.
Summary
Alan from Ayrshire College says, “We are extremely pleased with the training as it met all our objectives and exceeded our expectations.” The team found the training an incredibly positive experience and it surpassed their expectations in content and delivery. They would highly recommend the course to others and when asked if they would work with us again for any future business needs, Alan says: “The first place I would look would be Framework Training”.
The team at the University of Glasgow gained valuable new skills and knowledge from the training, which is especially crucial for their growth as software developers. Shabana says, “It was a great opportunity for us to try working with Framework Training and has helped solidify our decision to work with them in the future as well”.
We’re absolutely delighted by this feedback and the positive impact it has had. Our special thanks to the following individuals for sharing their insights and experiences:
Ayrshire College
Alan Farroll - Senior Systems Developer, Business Intelligence and Information Systems
John Donnelly - Business Intelligence and Information Systems
Robbie Thompson - Systems Developer
The University of Glasgow
Shabana Khan - Head of Data and Applications, Robertson Centre for Biostatistics)
Chris Graham - Application Developer, Robertson Centre for Biostatistics)
Greg Dawson - Application Developer, Robertson Centre for Biostatistics)
Tailored training for you
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