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Enhancing Student Engagement in Higher Education Applications

Explore our approach in engaging students applying to HE, from personalized services to insightful feedback mechanisms. Join us in shaping the future of university admissions!

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Enhancing Student Engagement in Higher Education Applications

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  1. Students: customers, funders, or partners? Helen Thorne Director, External Relations & Interim Director, Finance & Corporate Services

  2. How do universities and students see you?

  3. UK market dynamics • 45% of young cohort in England (18 and 19 year olds) apply to HE • 400+ UK universities and colleges offering HE (c130 universities) • 60% study more than 25 miles from home – varies by region • Good, well-informed choices deliver individual and public benefits • Government drive to encourage students to act as consumers to encourage universities to compete with each other – and therefore drive up quality • Facilitating good student choice is fundamental to UCAS’ mission

  4. How our strategy has changed • Pre-2010: primarily focused on services for universities • 2010-2015: more focus on students making good application choices; expansion into video content and social media; additional focus on post-16 choices • 2015-2020: strategic decision to focus on “students” rather than applicants and their journey; range of I&A from age 14 to adult; introduction of personalised communications and advice, first data driven services • 2018-2022: watch this space

  5. The learner journey

  6. How we engage with prospective students • Website - content, how to videos, blogs and vlogs • Social media • Search tool • Offer rate calculator • Tariff calculator • UCAS fairs and events – collect pre applicant data to enable personalised emails with subject information and city guides • Website carries advertising • Universities and others can buy direct marketing campaigns for specific groups of students, which UCAS Media executes

  7. How we engage with students applying to HE • Website - content, how to videos, blogs and vlogs • Application service • Track service – to follow progress • Social media and UCAS customer experience centre • Event driven email and SMS prompts • Opt-in for additional services: • Personalised email – with marketing content • Matching with vacant places • Verification for student banking • End of cycle survey of applicants

  8. How students help us develop our services • Sponsored chat room sessions - Q&A about new or improved products and services • User testing • School visits and workshops • Surveys of pre-applicants and applicants • Research and insight reports • Analysis and review of contact centre data and complaints

  9. How students help us develop our strategy • Student representatives on UCAS advisory Council – which provides advice to our Board of Trustees • Schools and colleges – and those who work with students – are UCAS Trustees • We are setting up a student panel to provide advice on more strategic issues

  10. Do we get it right? Mostly… • 89% of student survey respondents extremely or most happy with experience of using UCAS (2016 survey) • “UCAS makes it so easy to apply”… but “extremely complicated for mature students” • “Initially, I worried as felt it would be difficult to go through process but, I was led the whole way through good communication, guidance, deadlines and support. It was all explanatory and easy to follow.” • “You're doing a great job, keep it up”

  11. Some challenges & questions • How do you engage with students – and why? • How can we offer personalised information and advice without compromising responsibilities to represent universities equally? • How can we build student and university confidence in personalised data services? • How do we continue to be a trusted and well-used sources of I&A in an era when experts are less trusted and there are thousands of information sources available?

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