Reputation is the opinion of unsolicited third parties about us. The important distinction being not what we say (promote/market) about ourselves but the product of our cumulative activity (what we do - reality).

A positive, deeply grounded, reputation is essential for any institution. In education, as a people based, professional service, excellence and success attracts staff, parents, student’s and advocates e.g. community and business. In a society where evaluation and measurement paramount and where open feedback and comment can found online at any time - globally, it is essential that educational institutions know where they sit in their competitive market.

Reputation can only be truly examined through independent assessment. Every organisation needs to know where and how it is positioned in the wider world if it is to do improve and outperform competitors. The Knowledge Partnership specialises in the evaluation and management of reputation for the education sector, providing formal benchmarking and analysis and following through with the implementation of reputational change processes.

We have undertaken and produced considerable original research on reputation. Our robust research based tool for schools, colleges and universities, The Reputation Assessor, is one example and incorporates a methodology to assess interest holder perceptions of:

1. Positioning (what the institution stands for)
   
2. Performance (proof)
   
3. Differences (visual, behavioural, services) between the institution and others
   
4. Demand trends (how popular the institution appears to be)
   
5. Relations with media and community
   
6. Quality of student (graduate)
   
7. Affinity and recommendation toward the institution– who, what?
   
8. Focus placed on staff to become reputation ‘advocates’.

Based on our method of reputation evaluation, we conduct full communication reviews and strategies to build alignment between rhetoric and reality, including focus groups and one-to-one research, as well as internal staff and parent/student surveys. We have extensive expertise in reviewing and delivering style guides, newsletters and prospectuses.