Having a positive impact on our students' lives goes beyond providing access to education. It's about empowering them to transform their lives by equipping them with skills that enhance their employability. Furthermore, when assessing our impact on students, we must consider their backgrounds and the obstacles they face. Our ability to assist them in overcoming these barriers can significantly influence their outcomes. In essence, the greater the obstacle, the greater our impact.
Table of contents
Breaking barriers to education
The barriers to education our students face encompass various factors, including limited access to prior education, financial constraints, geographical or social limitations, as well as stereotypes and biases in decision-making processes. Additionally, learning or physical disabilities may further impede their educational journey.
For that reason, it’s important that we measure our efficiency in helping our students access education, particularly focusing on:
→ the rate of students who apply to one of our training paths and are admitted, referred to as the "orientation rate";
→ the rate of students who graduate within the expected timeframe, referred to as the "graduation rate";
→ the rate of students who achieve positive career outcomes within 6 months following graduation, referred to as the "job placement rate".
Orientation rate
Graduation rate
Job placement rate
NB: the job placement rate indicates placement within 6 months of graduation. To obtain data that most accurately reflects the employment rate of our graduates, we have chosen to report this data over a period from June to June, to include a maximum six-month job search period.
Orientation rate:
Percentage of applicants who become students
Graduation rate:
Percentage of students who graduate in the timeframe they’re expected to
Job placement rate:
Percentage of students who found a job 6 months or less after graduation
Analysis
Looking at the decrease in orientation rate, it may seem that our applicants struggled more to become students. However, it’s essential to consider that data in context: our applicant number actually increased by +190% last year. This surge can be attributed to a combination of successful marketing campaigns and enhancements to our platform.
We basically opened up the doors for more people to apply, but fully-financed training seats did not grow at the same rate during this period. Consequently, a significant number of students opted to fully fund their training themselves. However, this solution isn't feasible for everyone, leading to a mechanical decrease in our orientation rate.
This scenario raises additional questions for the years ahead: while it's crucial to ensure that prospective students are well-prepared to graduate at the end of their program, implementing too many prerequisites and screening procedures could potentially contradict our mission to make education accessible. Thus, finding the right balance between orientation rate and graduation rate will be one of OpenClassrooms’ main challenges in the near future.
Career outcomes
Breaking barriers to education is not the only impact we’re having or measuring. What’s our end goal? Ensuring that people who are using OpenClassrooms to learn new skills are able to leverage those skills to achieve a positive “career outcome”. What do we consider a positive career outcome?
We validate one positive career outcome when an active student on the platform credits OpenClassrooms with having helped them in any of the following ways:
→ find a new job, internship, apprenticeship ;
→ start a new business ;
→ obtain a new job title and/or a salary increase ;
→ transitioning to a new job as a result of internal mobility.
Each career outcome can only be counted once for the same individual over a 12-month period.
2023 is a new record for us, with
52,330
positive career outcomes registered.
Number of career outcomes over the years
(including free users, apprentices and students)
Takeaways
In addition to helping our students find employment, we recognize the powerful impact we have on our free users as well. Last year, over 48,000 individuals who used our platform for free credited OpenClassrooms with helping them advance their careers!
Furthermore, through our measurement of impact on various customer categories, we identified a group of students who excelled: our apprentices. An impressive 81% of them secured employment within 6 months or less after graduation. This statistic highlights the potent role apprenticeships can play in facilitating the transition of young individuals into the workforce.
Demographics
While striving to enhance our impact, it's crucial to ensure that we eliminate barriers to accessing education for those who need it the most. Therefore, the demographics of our students matter greatly.
Unemployed individuals
Low to no qualification
Refugees
Residents of underserved areas
Students with disabilities
Women in Tech paths
NB: many students belong to several categories simultaneously.
For example, an individual may be unemployed and reside in an underserved area.
75% of our students fit into at least one of the underserved categories. Similar to last year, our primary impact was with students facing the most significant barriers to education.
Meanwhile, we also broadened our international presence.
Consequently, the percentage of students residing in France decreased from 90% in 2022 to 82% in 2023.
Furthermore, our free users logged into OpenClassrooms from 222 different countries across the world.
2022
2023
Our free users logged
in to OpenClassrooms from
222 countries
across the world.
OpenClassrooms students per country
Methodological Noteon Data Collection
Some of our calculation methods have evolved compared to last year or require clarification:
→ The formula for calculating the percentage of students residing in underserved areas has been updated to consider only students residing in France, for whom we have exact addresses. This allows us to verify whether they live in an underserved area.
→ Some demographic data are based on self-reported information, for which students are not required, or may not be able, to provide proof of belonging to a priority category. For example, a student who claims not to have a qualification higher than the undergrad level can only declare this status without providing proof. It is not possible to provide evidence of not having obtained a higher diploma.
→ The calculation of the percentage of women in our Tech paths includes the Cybersecurity, Data, Design, Development, Project Management, Supply Chain, and System and Network programs.
→ We have changed our reporting period for calculating the employment placement rate. This rate is calculated based on the number of students who found a job within six months of their graduation date. To calculate the rate for students of a calendar year (January to December), we need to add six months so that students who graduated at the end of the year have the necessary time to find employment. Therefore, we now finalize this figure each year on June 30 for the students of the previous year.
Testimony
During my career transition, juggling with my family life, which includes three young children and a spouse, along with my training schedule, has been a challenge that I have overcome with dedication. In spite of my obligations, I am fully committed to my training. These challenges only strengthen my determination and my ability to simultaneously manage multiple aspects of my life. After signing a fixed-term contract as an IT technician at the company where I completed my internship, I plan to start an apprenticeship in September 2024 to obtain a level of education equivalent to a master's degree in systems and security management. This opens up new professional perspectives for me.
Marina, 38,