Our work — London School of Economics and Political Science
A testament to teamwork and agility: how LSE transformed financial support in six months
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a world-leading social science university based in central London, with a highly international student community and global research impact.
LSE’s Financial Support Office manages approximately £40 million across 200+ scholarships and bursaries, alongside handling around 10,000 annual enquiries. The existing process relied on legacy systems that were difficult to scale and required some degree of manual effort.
The programme was shaped to meet a fixed academic deadline, leaving no room for delay. With limited resources available internally, LSE required a trusted partner to accelerate delivery and ensure a successful go-live aligned to the student lifecycle – while delivering an improved and intuitive applicant experience.
At a glance:
£40M+
financial support managed
95%
of the outcomes automated
5,900+
applications within the first month
4.4/5
user satisfaction rate
From challenge to a scalable, automated, data-driven approach
Fluido led both the design and implementation in close partnership with LSE, combining higher education expertise with Salesforce platform specialisation. Working as a single delivery team, Fluido and LSE designed and delivered a Salesforce Education Cloud solution supporting end-to-end scholarship management.
Delivered in just six months, the programme included discovery, agile delivery, testing, and go-live aligned to the academic cycle. This transformation replaced a fragmented, ageing process and system with a unified, automated process and scalable platform.
Key capabilities include:
- A digital, user-friendly application experience
- A rules-driven awarding engine
- Automated processing of applications and outcomes
- Integrated programme and budget management for governance and transparency
"It was our first foray into Education Cloud and Fluido brought their experience… to help us deliver."
Agile delivery and strong collaboration
With compressed timelines and evolving requirements, success depended on effective collaboration and agility. Fluido and LSE worked as a single delivery team – iterating rapidly, adapting scope, and resolving challenges in real time.
"That was a testament to the teamwork… people were willing to do that and achieved it."
Results
The impact of the solution was immediate and measurable:
- 527 applications started in the first 10 hours
- 5,984 applications within the first month
- 3,358 outcomes processed
- 95% processed automatically
- 4.4/5 average rating from 1,117 applicants
Building a scalable foundation for the future
The solution provides a foundation to expand scholarship management, decommission legacy systems, and support a unified student lifecycle – a clear pathway towards a fully integrated, end-to-end student lifecycle on Salesforce.
"Having successfully delivered this one, all the rest will follow… everything delivered in one space on Salesforce."
Conclusion
Through agile delivery, strong collaboration, and deep platform expertise, LSE successfully transformed its Financial Support function and established a scalable foundation for future innovation.
LSE’s experience highlights the importance of strong collaboration, flexibility, and a willingness to adapt delivery approaches to meet tight timelines.
