With policy changes and global political climates constantly fluctuating, growing and maintaining an international student population on college and university campuses poses quite the challenge to enrollment offices. Learn how Teesside University leveraged its relationship with UniQuest to convert new demand from India.
Like colleges in the US are currently experiencing, UK higher education institutions have taken hits in key recruitment markets over the years as certain policy changes decreased demand for the UK as a study destination. Specifically, UK universities have struggled with declines and stagnation in Indian student numbers since 2012 when the UK government ended its post-study work visa program which had allowed students two years to seek employment after they finished their degrees.
Even during this sector-wide slump Teesside University remained committed to the Indian market, and in 2018 leveraged its existing relationship with UniQuest to maximize international student enrollment success as demand for UK higher education showed signs of rebounding. Through an embedded partnership with UniQuest, Teesside University generated and converted new demand in the Indian student market to achieve outsized growth reaching a 351% year-on-year increase.
Teesside University worked with UniQuest to maximize the impact of the traditional in-country recruitment methods performed by their regional office. To try to do everything themselves would have been at the cost of other strategic priorities for the University, so Teesside sought the support of UniQuest. The UniQuest team fully managed the student conversion strategies and activities for the Indian market, allowing Teesside’s regional office team to concentrate on delivering excellent service to agents and prospective students they met in-country.
Acting as an extension of the Teesside team, UniQuest communicated on behalf of the University with students from inquiry through to enrollment. UniQuest managed integrated engagement journeys across channels like email, phone, and live chat to improve student conversion. UniQuest tracked every communication with prospective students to create rich student profiles that informed ongoing interventions with students. This data not only served to ensure students received highly personal and relevant communications, but also supported Teesside’s internal marketing strategies. UniQuest analyzed the data to develop weekly and monthly reports for Teesside’s teams that shared trends like student FAQs, common concerns, and factors influencing enrollment decisions. Through the comprehensive data UniQuest reported, Teesside was able to identify the unique needs of their prospective students from India and take steps to ensure they had a smooth induction to the University.
With UniQuest managing all student inquiries and proactively reaching out to students to nurture interest, Teesside’s in-country teams were able to further develop the relationships they built in-country while juggling their other strategic priorities. From the students’ perspectives, all of the conversations they were having over email, phone and live chat were happening directly with the University. This consistent, personal engagement made the students feel valued and prepared them for what to expect when they became Teesside students.
“By outsourcing our inquiry and conversion management to UniQuest, we’ve gained confidence that our prospective students are being engaged to the highest possible standard. Through the partnership, Teesside performs highly across key recruitment functions simultaneously which has enhanced our reputation in the Indian market and boosted our numbers and tuition fee revenue.”
– George Hunt, Director of International Development, Teesside University
UniQuest brings together data sets across all its university partners to create institution-level insights and benchmarks to enable a greater strategic understanding of University performance both in-cycle and against year-on-year metrics.
Benchmarked data that is provided in-cycle allows Teesside to understand their performance in particular markets, like India, and enables proactive planning and the flexibility to react to changing market conditions. Sector data is often available too late to inform change, so the ability to see in-cycle benchmarked data ensures that Teesside can get ahead, and stay ahead of their competitors.
“UniQuest have demonstrated time and again, the benefit of external benchmarking in measuring institutional performance against domestic competitors. Applying this sector intelligence has allowed Teesside to calibrate internal recruitment targets and also celebrate the outstanding growth witnessed within India, in context of wider sector performance. A truly valuable tool and an increasingly important strategic relationship for Teesside University”
– Adam Rennison, Head of International Recruitment, Teesside University
Teesside University and UniQuest have been partners since 2014. Located in North East England, in the town of Middlesbrough, Teesside serves more than 20,000 students. Teesside University is ranked number one of 199 world universities for overall average satisfaction in the International Student Barometer 2018.
Watch our on-demand webinar presented with George Hunt, Teesside University’s Director of International Development.
