The Sutton Trust
The Sutton Trust is the UK’s leading social mobility charity providing programmes that empower young people to access life-changing opportunities, and research that influences national change to deliver a fairer future.
Each year, together with 20 leading university and over 100 employer partners, the charity supports over 10,000 young people to reach their potential through university, apprenticeship and career access programmes.
Why The Sutton Trust Decided To Change Their Approach
The Sutton Trust already used salesforce and other technical applications to manage their nationwide programmes but still relied upon 50+ spreadsheets and email, creating delays, errors, and duplicated effort across 20 university partners.
Tracking thousands of students this way slowed operations and diverted valuable time from student support. To fix this, they partnered with Hyphen8, here’s how.
“We were spending so much time managing spreadsheets, tracking student applications, coordinating with universities, and handling programme logistics manually.
It wasn’t just inefficient, it was unsustainable. To grow our impact and give every student the best experience, we needed a central system to automate tasks, improve accuracy, and let our team focus on delivering real results.
- Harry Thomason, Systems and Evaluation Manager,
The Sutton Trust
Pain Points
Whilst Sutton Trust staff utilised Salesforce, programme delivery required liaising across 20 universities and multiple programme elements. It was clear a more centralised and automated system was needed that would eliminate manual processes and improve programme management. Key issues included:
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Manual Tracking
- Manual tracking of data with 20 university partners required extracting it from Salesforce, emailing files, and re-uploading updates, causing delays, errors, and duplication.
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Reporting and Insights
- Lack of instant access to key information, resulting in miscommunication and reactive processes.
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Admin Heavy Workload
- Overstretched team with staff juggling admin-heavy tasks
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No Automation Creating Limits
- Scalability limits with 15,000+ annual applications and no automation, the team couldn’t scale processes or keep pace with demand
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Limited Visability
- No Single Source of Truth with data scattered across systems, creating silos and reducing visibility. Impact tracking was manual and slow, limiting strategic decisions.
The Solution: A Unified Salesforce System Designed by Hyphen8
Hyphen8 built a single Salesforce portal for all 20 universities to manage recruitment, delivery, and evaluation. This portal replaced spreadsheets and emails with real-time access, automated data updates, and reduced admin.
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Recruitment & Application Tracking
Students' applications are pulled directly into the portal, and universities use live dashboards to monitor applications, track trends, and more effectively target underrepresented groups.
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Selection & Decision-Making Automation
Universities now access full student datasets, shortlist and select directly in the system, and upload decisions instantly, removing all Excel-based processes.
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Programme Delivery & Student Management
After selection, universities manage student status, attendance, and logistics in one place, eliminating emails and improving coordination of placements, mentoring, and workshops.
The Impact of working with Hyphen8
Game Changing Impacts
By working with Hyphen8, The Sutton Trust has eliminated manual spreadsheet processes, streamlined university collaboration, and gained real-time visibility over student applications and programme management, saving valuable time and improving efficiency at scale.
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Replacing 50+ Spreadsheets with One Salesforce System
- Eliminated spreadsheet dependency – Universities and The Sutton Trust no longer need to extract, email, and re-upload spreadsheets, as all data is centralised in one system.
- Seamless data access for universities – Instead of waiting for manual updates, universities can now log into the portal and access real-time student information.
- Improved data accuracy – With a single source of truth, there’s no risk of outdated or conflicting versions of spreadsheets being circulated.
- Eliminated spreadsheet dependency – Universities and The Sutton Trust no longer need to extract, email, and re-upload spreadsheets, as all data is centralised in one system.
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Saving 30 Days of Team Time
- Automated student tracking – The Sutton Trust team no longer needs to manually import and update student applications, freeing up time for programme delivery.
- Faster decision-making – Universities can review and select students directly in the portal, removing the need for back-and-forth emails and spreadsheets.
- Reduced reporting workload – Instead of manually compiling reports from spreadsheets, the team now generates insights instantly within Salesforce.
- Automated student tracking – The Sutton Trust team no longer needs to manually import and update student applications, freeing up time for programme delivery.
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Saving Partners and Universities Time
- Instant access to key programme data – Universities no longer rely on The Sutton Trust for updates—they can log in and see the latest information at any time.
- Simplified event coordination – Work placements, conferences, and programme logistics are now fully managed in the portal, eliminating email-based coordination.
- Fewer administrative tasks – Universities save hours each week by selecting students, managing attendance, and updating records in a single system.
- Instant access to key programme data – Universities no longer rely on The Sutton Trust for updates—they can log in and see the latest information at any time.
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Improving Data-Driven Decision Making
- Real-time insights for impact measurement – The Sutton Trust can now easily track programme performance and student outcomes without manual data collection.
- Automated survey analysis – Programme feedback is instantly available within Salesforce, enabling continuous improvements.
- Easier and better reporting for stakeholders including funders – With clear, accurate data, the organisation can make better data driven decisions, and data can be shared more quickly with key stakeholders such as funders.
- Real-time insights for impact measurement – The Sutton Trust can now easily track programme performance and student outcomes without manual data collection.
Making an impact
"The Sutton Trust team saved 30 days of staff time by automating student tracking, streamlining decision-making for universities, and eliminating manual reporting.
With everything now managed in Salesforce, processes that once relied on spreadsheets and emails are faster, more accurate, and far less labour-intensive."
- Elaine Forth, CEO, Hyphen8
Why Did You Choose Salesforce and Hyphen8?
"Hyphen8 understood the complexities of our work and delivered a solution that truly met our needs.
We needed a system that would eliminate manual processes, improve collaboration with universities, and centralise our data, without adding unnecessary complications.
Hyphen8 worked with us as a true partner, focusing on the areas where we needed their expertise the most, while empowering us to manage and evolve the system ourselves.
Their knowledge, honesty, and ability to build exactly what we needed made them the perfect choice."
— Harry Thomason, Systems and Evaluation Manager, The Sutton Trust
