Outcomes Star and the SEQF Framework
Using Outcomes Star to support fidelity with the Supported Employment Quality Framework
With the Connect to Work programme rolling out across England and Wales, we set out how the Outcomes Star approach can support fidelity with the Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF).
What SEQF asks for
The Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF) looks for evidence that a supported employment service:
- Understands and supports jobseekers through a person-centred process.
- Uses vocational profiling and action planning with jobseekers and their networks.
- Shows outcomes and progress in a credible, consistent way.
- Can demonstrate this through records, conversations, data, and examples from practice.
Outcome evidence in SEQF isn’t just whether someone got a job. It’s about how people move towards and remain within sustained work and inclusion – tracking real change over time.
“Our decision to use Outcomes Star for the work star has been a good one. Your team have shown dedication and flexibility and our staff love using the Work Star as it helps guide conversations and identify the areas for work quickly. Its interactive nature enables assessments to be done without people feeling like it’s an assessment – building rapport and supporting progress. The Work Star is supported by robust data security and as such further enhances the role of Outcomes Star as a delivery partner for work and health programmes”
Outcomes Star: A practical evidence-based approach
Outcomes Star is a tool that embeds outcomes measurement within person-centred support. It’s used across multiple sectors to support, measure and understand change with individuals. Grounded in research, lived experience and real practice, it is strengths-based, trauma-informed and enables meaningful whole-life conversations.
Outcomes Star is a dual-purpose tool that:
- Guides support conversations and action planning with individuals.
- Produces standardised data and narrative evidence of progress.
This dual role aligns well with what SEQF wants to see - people supported through a journey of change, with clear evidence of how and what progress is made.
Pathway Star and Work Star - how they work in practice
There are two work-focused Stars available that provide holistic support frameworks for people wish to find and sustain employment: Pathway Star and Work Star.
Pathway Star
Pathway Star is used when people face significant barriers to employment (e.g. health, housing, finances, wellbeing). It covers holistic life and work-related outcome areas such as skills, stability, money, wellbeing, relationships and confidence.
The five-stage Journey of Change (from “Not yet ready” to “Managing OK”) gives a shared language of progress to work.
Work Star
The Work Star is relevant when individuals are ready to focus on job search and employment outcomes. It tracks progress in outcome areas such as skills and experience, motivation, job search skills, basic skills, stability and wellbeing.
In both Stars:
- The person being supported and practitioner complete the Star together
- Progress is timely, visual, repeatable and person-centred
- It’s not a form filled in once and forgotten – it’s part of ongoing person-centred, collaborative, relational support
How Outcomes Star fits into SEQF evidence
Vocational Profiling & Action Planning
SEQF asks services to show how they use vocational profiling and co-produced action plans.
Vocational profiling is a conversation to understand a person’s aspirations, interests, strengths and employment support needs. It informs planning for work.
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- Capture a broader profile of factors related to work, including barriers and enablers.
- Act as a user-friendly, engaging interface, with practitioners recording more detailed information in detailed forms in the background.
- Ensure that action plans are holistic, outcomes-focused and created collaboratively.
- Present information in standardised scales reflecting both personal and vocational change.
Rather than an isolated one-off record, Outcomes Star builds a record of progression over time - giving SEQF assessors case evidence, trends, and clear justification for decisions made in support and action planning.
Evidence of Progress Over Time
SEQF assessors look at evidence such as case documentation, including profiles and plans, and interviews with jobseekers and staff to test consistency and outcomes data and KPIs.
Outcomes Star aligns with this by providing:
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- A framework for person-centred, holistic Vocational Profiling and outcomes-focused action planning.
- Time-sequenced evidence of where someone started and the changes they made with support.
- Consistent language across cases so trends can be seen.
- Data that supports narrative evidence, e.g., “improved job search skills”, “greater stability”, “health barriers reduced”.
“The Star provides a shared understanding across the team, especially with areas like vocational profiling, so practitioners really do understand where people wish to have employment and where their skills are. The Star definitely helps to open up those conversations.”
Outcomes Star adds far more than just Vocational Profiling
Outcomes Star adds:
- A consistent measurement framework that works across services and individuals.
- A shared ‘Journey of Change’ that helps practitioners and jobseekers articulate progress.
- Data that can be aggregated for service-level reporting, improvement and reflective practice.
- Ongoing reflective conversations that inform action – not just a snapshot at one time.
Making Outcomes Star a core part of SEQF: Practical steps for local authorities
Outcomes Star can form a core part of SEQF evidence in the following ways:
- Embed Star completion and action planning within routine support pathways (e.g., completed as part of the first profile, periodic reviews, key transitions).
- Train practitioners in person-centred Star use (Outcomes Star training ensures consistency and quality).
- Use Star data for service insight and improvement, feeding into internal quality reviews and SEQF self-assessment.
Evidence you can stand behind
Using Outcomes Star provides you with a practical, person-centred approach that aligns with SEQF expectations on vocational profiling, action planning and outcomes measurement. It gives clear, consistent, real-world evidence of individual progression and supports organisational learning and quality improvement.
By bringing holistic progress measurement into everyday practice, Outcomes Star makes it easier for services to explain what changed, how it changed, and why that matters - which is at the heart of high-quality SEQF evidence.