Defining your Applicant Experience Strategy

HE in FE insight into the Applicant Experienceas supplier, demander, partner and competitorProfessionalising Admission to Higher Education in Further Education Conference – 2 March 2010Dan Shaffer, Senior Project Officer

Defining your Applicant Experience Strategy Prompted by Student Experience research Looked at USA models of Strategic Enrolment Management Accepted marketing and market forces play a determining role Adopted a behavioural view of ‘experience’ Interactive participation and engagement, not a passive journey “Encompasses all the opportunities or points of interaction between higher education and a potential student. Such experience affects whether or not an individual becomes a higher education student, and indeed whether or not an individual chooses to apply to higher education in the first place. “

Defining your Applicant Experience Strategy Pre-application enquirers potential applicants WP/Outreach Marketing Application study choices Schools’ Liaison Post-application selection; offers accepted applicants unsuccessful applicants ? ACADEMIC PROVISION Admissions Transition confirmation induction enrolment Teaching & Learning Retention and graduation Student Services

Defining your Applicant Experience Strategy A good applicant experience is mutually beneficial to both the applicant and the higher education provider prepares, informs and provides equality of opportunity to enter higher education should accurately match the student’s aims, abilities and aspirations with the character of the institution. therefore improves student retention and enhances the strategic mission of the institution A poor applicant experience is inherently detrimental to both the applicant and the higher education provider – both lose out perpetuates barriers to entry disengages potential applicants and their advisors risks incongruence between student expectations and institutional character therefore embeds an enrolment strategy leading to unfulfilled potential and increased drop-out

HE in FE as supplier, demander, partner and competitor • FE colleges with HE provision may have a unique and largely unexplored view on the applicant experience as: • Suppliers of potential HE applicants at the top of the funnel • Demanders of HE students at the other end • In partnership with other providers to deliver quality higher education • In competition with those same providers for able and suitable students

HE in FE as supplier, demander, partner and competitor Does this create a better relationship between applicant and institution? Does this lead to a more focused relationship with partner institutions? If not, how does the experience falter and what needs to be embedded to improve it?

Just to test … Do you like Marmite? • Yes • No

Just to test … If elections were decided by the party leaders boxing each other, who would win the next election? • Gordon Brown • David Cameron • Nick Clegg

Just to test … Assuming there is reincarnation and you are given the choice of coming back as one of three animals, please rank the choices in your order of preference: • seagull • lion • dolphin

Question One Who makes the offers on your UCAS applications? • Your own college • Your partner university • Your college makes the decisions, but the university inputs it to UCAS • It varies, depending on the course • Don’t know

Question Two On a scale of 1-5, how well informed do you feel your FE students are about the UCAS process? • not at all • slightly • moderately • quite well • very well

Question Three On a scale of 1-5, how well informed do you feel your FE students should be about the UCAS process? • not at all • slightly • moderately • quite well • very well

Question Four On a scale of 1-5, how well informed do you feel your FE students are about other HE admissions routes (e.g. part-time)? • not at all • slightly • moderately • quite well • very well

Question Five On a scale of 1-5, how well informed do you feel your FE students should be about other HE admissions routes (e.g. part-time)? • not at all • slightly • moderately • quite well • very well

Question Six What is your opinion of the information from your partner universities? • Good for all HE admissions routes • Good for UCAS courses, but less so for other routes • Reasonable for general information, but could be more appropriate for FE applicants • Poor for all HE admissions routes • Don’t know

Question Seven On average, do you think your FE students are less informed about admissions to HE than level three students in schools? • Yes • No

Question Eight Has any agreement for progression of your students to a partner university changed due to recent increased competition for places? • No change • There’s no longer a guarantee of an offer • Our students now need to apply earlier than before • The requirements have gone up • Our students need to apply earlier and the requirements have gone up • Don’t know

Question Nine Do you feel your partner university consults with you appropriately on changes to progression agreements, allocation of funded places, tuition fees or other recruitment issues in college courses validated by them? • Yes • No

Question Ten Do you feel you keep your partner university well informed? • Yes • No

Question Eleven Please rank the choices to represent your order of priority for communication between partners (1= most important; 5 = least important) • Clear and accessible course information / Entry Profiles • HEFCE HE Strategy • IQER • Progression agreements • Social Mobility

Question Twelve If a university is looking at integrating the work of its staff as part of an applicant experience strategy, should this include relevant staff in partner colleges? • Yes, colleges are definitely part of that experience • No, colleges should remain outside of any university strategy and concentrate on their own, separate approaches • Colleges should be recognised and consulted on such a strategy, but co-ordination should be informal • Don’t know

Thank youEmail enquiries@spa.ac.uk, call 01242 544891www.spa.ac.uk

Defining your Applicant Experience Strategy