It’s Time to go Always on

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Cristina Rodriguez

Don’t underestimate any stage of the recruitment cycle – Always on is the way to go

A total of 561,420 students applied by the UCAS January deadline, an increase of 0.4% from this time last year. This proves that the deadline still holds a lot of sway with the students. Last year it made up 80% of the total number of applicants. This all tells us that despite the recent decrease of UK applicants overall it is important to have a “strong presence” ahead of the deadline. Having an always on presence in order to support each stage of the student recruitment journey is essential

The increase in the overall number of applicants for this year’s UCAS January deadline alleviates the doubts around the importance or the actual meaning of the January deadline due to the increased number of students waiting to go through clearing and adjustment. From our point of view there is no denying the facr that clearing is a key part of the student recruitment cycle and that it is indeed gaining more and more importance as students learn their way around it. However, it is necessary to be consistent and support students throughout the whole cycle, which makes an all year around presence a strategy that will consistently deliver you better results

Conversion

74% of the total applicants have submitted 5 applications whilst only 38,280 of the total applicants (6.8%) applicants have submitted one application. These numbers are not a surprise for marketers. It may however make you little bit frustrated, as it proves that the job is not finished once an application is submitted and there is still plenty of work to do to convert

These numbers are also telling institutions that conversion should have a bigger priority than what it currently has (in some cases). To sum up a conversion campaign is without doubt essential. However, this should be part of the overall strategy.

From now until June

Concentrate on conversion campaign – YES

However don’t stop engaging with students that have not yet made their decision

Mature students are an example of this, it is commonplace that mature students wait a little bit longer in the year to submit their application. Even second time applicants.

International Growth

Overall, UK domiciled applicants have decreased by 0.7 per cent, while applicants from outside the UK have increased to their highest levels on record for both EU 0.9% and non-EU countries 9% (UCAS Report January Deadline).

Building a strong international strategy has become more important than ever, mostly to make up for the national shortage. We cannot ignore the high percentage of growth for non-EU countries and the actual growth of key EU countries.  Do you have an International strategy in place? Educate is currently offering a free service called the “Global Brand Insight Report” to help you understand the exposure of your brand in the key markets that you are currently advertising in or that you are planning to advertise, with the aim to identify opportunities and give you recommendation of the best plan of action based on the data.

We all have heard about the growth of Chinese applicants, 33% compared to 2018 and other countries with large percentage increases in applicant numbers including Romania (+260, 10 per cent), Slovakia (+180, 26 per cent), and Saudi Arabia (+150, 24 per cent). However, we still think that it is important to highlight emerging markets that you may not have considered

Bangladesh 32%

Albania   47%

Azerbaijan 47%

Burma 20%

Canary Islands 59%

Gibraltar 22%

Jersey 25%

Kazakhstan 15%

Philippines 30%

Peru 24%

Zambia 47%

United States of America 5%

For more information or to discuss your student recruitment strategy please get in touch or download our media pack here