Creative Clearing 2014

Getting creative this Clearing

With the 2014 Clearing process well under way, four days in and dozens of universities are fiercely engaged in a last-ditch effort to fill their undergraduate student recruitment targets. This year has seen a record number of university places – expected to exceed half a million – with an extra 30,000 allocated by the Government on top of the unlimited available for the highest achieving students as part of the run up to the cap being removed entirely in 2015. Almost 400,000 students accepted places on A-level results day – up by 11,000 in a year, with 352,590 of these (an increase of 2%) securing their first choice of course.

The slight fall in A* and A grades and a reduced pass rate – for the first time in over 30 years – has meant that the brightest students now find themselves in a ‘buyer’s market’ with greater potential to trade up. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has revealed that the number of undergraduates admitted to selective universities has increased by 4% this year compared with just 1% for those institutions with the lowest entry requirements. Again, we have seen Russell Group universities advertising places through Clearing – with 17 out of 24 promoting vacancies more than 24 hours after the publication of A-level results.

When the dust settled in 2013, figures showed that in the two years since higher fees were introduced some English universities had increased their student intake by up to 40%, while a number of post-92 institutions had lost more than 20% of their entrants. With such increased competition and pressure to hit targets, it is little wonder that marketers go ‘all out’ during Clearing; it’s traditionally become a time of year when we see the greatest innovation and creativity. So, which universities and what activities have made an impression on this seasoned Clearing aficionado in 2014?

Personalisation

One of the first marketers to extol the virtues of personalised videos, launching the UK’s first ever at Birmingham City University (see http://upgrade-your-future.bcu.ac.uk/ if you’re interested), I’ve long been a fan of personalisation. Extremely popular to the extent it has become common place in the United States, it has yet to really take off creatively in the UK. For me, two universities in particular came up with innovative ways to make the experience for students getting a place that little bit more special.

University of Birmingham: The University used personalisation to its advantage during Clearing, sending students whose places had been confirmed a light-hearted personalised video welcoming them to the University. While the personalisation was relatively simplistic – essentially featured in two areas – it proved highly effective, both surprising and pleasing those who received it and generating lots of positive comments on social media and 142 likes on the Facebook announcement. You can see the video at http://www.myvideo.bham.ac.uk/?id=your-name

 

 

 

University of Sheffield: The University came up with a unique Clearing campaign advising students with exceptional grades to go ‘1 better’ and trade up. The messaging capitalised on the fact the University has been voted number 1 for student experience – with the best Students’ Union – for three years in a row. After results day, students given a place were sent personalised graphics and e-cards which celebrated their exam results and incorporated the underlying theme of success. There were lots of happy messages from their recipients!

 

 

Student engagement

Persuading prospective and current students to engage on social media is notoriously difficult. Most universities now encourage prospective and current students to take selfies (or take photographs of students themselves) and post them on twitter and facebook feeds, usually with very little success. The most innovative approaches I have seen this year, which have bucked the trend and produced dozens of self-taken photographs and/or lots of retweets, shares and likes, come from:

Loughborough University: The #IAMIN campaign saw the University sending new students a cut-out polaroid-style frame to take their own selfies. Hugely popular, the University not only posted the selfies as they were submitted, but also created video tours of the selfies published each day too. 

 

University of Salford: With a lovely play on words, the University encouraged everyone to send in their #Salfie with even the Vice-Chancellor getting in on the act.
 

 
University of Roehampton: The University’s #IamUR campaign has been running all year and features case studies of current students and alumni (which seem to have sadly dried up before results day), but prospective students have cottoned on to using the hashtag when celebrating their places.
 

 
 

Information and guidance

When it comes to Clearing Guides, it takes a lot to impress me… I was responsible for producing one of the first in the sector way back when at the University of Wolverhampton in 1998! Nowadays, I don’t think there is a single university out there that hasn’t produced its own ‘Guide to Clearing’, though some are undoubtedly better than others. When it comes to information and guidance, however, two universities impressed me:

Middlesex University: The University’s video ‘Guide to handling parents’ was well produced, with a clear and concise script, great graphics and superb corporate branding. This video provided a new take on the issues of support for prospective students during Clearing and was a source of rich content retweeted by many sources and quoted in news articles. The University is rapidly establishing itself as the leader when it comes to information – it has produced multiple infographics on topics such as Clearing, graduation or student finance, while the You Tube channel boasts a range of impressive videos on subjects from ‘Writing a personal statement’ to ‘How to apply for a UK visa’, all in the distinctive red, white and black corporate colours.

 

 

Teesside University: The overall simplicity and the consistent branding of the University’s ‘Clearing made simple’ campaign, integrated across all digital platforms, set it apart for me. On the main website, navigation is extremely easy, with lots of links to advice, information and visiting opportunities. What really impressed me though was the freshers’guide, which was being promoted widely as the next step for confirmed students. It wasn’t radical in terms of content, though there is a nice video to inspire freshers about what’s in store for them, but it was comprehensive, pulling all of the relevant information together in a simple way. What could have been cluttered, instead looks professional and clean with the use of an underlying table structure, iconography and corporate colours.

 

  

Current students as ambassadors

Anyone who currently or has worked in Higher Education understands the power of using current students. Often a University’s best ambassadors, it is current students who prospective students really want to speak to when getting a feel for what a particular course or university is really like. For this reason, universities have for many years recruited students to work as ambassadors at Open Days and other events, but this year’s Clearing has seen much more student activity than ever before. The universities who (to me) nailed it were:

University of Wales Trinity Saint David: The University has recruited a number of student social media ambassadors who have their own twitter accounts linked to the main corporate account and post on behalf of the University. This means that the main corporate account is full of rich content/activity with a very personal feel to it.

 

 

Birmingham City University: As well as recruiting students to answer Clearing queries out of hours on social media, the University also produced a range of videos featuring prospective and current students on what it’s like to study, attending an Open Day and a video made by students for students going through Clearing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0vPBNqsdTY)

 

 

Outstanding customer service
Over the last three years, as student recruitment has gotten tougher, we have seen an increase in the opening hours of Clearing hotlines and the frequency of dedicated Clearing Open Days. However, two universities – Teesside University and Southampton Solent University – have taken customer service to a whole new level, becoming what I think are the only institutions in the UK to offer a 24 hour Clearing hotline. And there was no missing Southampton Solent’s telephone number!
 

 

 

 

Distinctive positioning

In a buyer’s market, it is important to get across your key messages and clearly tell prospective students why they should choose you over and above your competitors. There were lots of tweets pushing news stories and star academics, but some universities made a concerted effort to convey a range of influential facts and figures. Those that caught my eye included:

University of Surrey: Key facts and figures formed an integral part of Surrey’s clearing promotion with a range of performance indicators around league table positioning, excellence and student satisfaction incorporated into the design of the website and promoted on social media.

 

 

University of Bradford: From promoting the latest student satisfaction and employability ratings to the fact they have the largest pharmacy school in the UK and an award-winning campus, the University – and some of its Faculty accounts – presented a united front and has consistently pushed content related to its accomplishments throughout the course of Clearing so far.

 

 

University of East Anglia: I love East Anglia’s ‘Wish you were here’ postcard pictures as part of their #experienceUEA campaign.  These pictures promoted on Twitter and Facebook showcased what is clearly a picturesque campus as well as a range of unique selling points.

 

 

 

TV advertising

Television advertising is very expensive (you need to budget roughly £40K for production and at least £150K media costs for three to four-week medium weighted campaign), which is probably why it remains rare within the Higher Education sector. As someone who has developed almost a dozen TV adverts for three different universities, however, I still find it a surprise that people haven’t yet cottoned on to its effectiveness. TV has by far the greatest reach with the potential to be seen multiple times by millions and has the best recall for advertising, so it is actually one of the best mediums to generate action and can rapidly transform public perceptions. A 2014 study by Millward Brown found that despite having the highest penetration of smartphones across 30 countries studied for receptiveness to screen advertising, the British spend more time watching television than any other country – spending on average two and a half hours, or 36% of their screen time. 

I only came across one TV advert in Clearing, which may in part be due to my home base, from De Montfort University. With its clips of inspiring imagery, challenging messaging and the crescendo of music and narrative, the advert to me was reminiscent of BCU’s Shaping the World TV advert (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlgLg3bSBJY) launched last October. But where I thought DMU really made the campaign their own was in the background story which sat behind the content of the TV ad, which was explained on the website and promoted through social media (check out http://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/how-we-told-the-dmu-story-in-30-seconds.aspx) From this, it became apparent just how much thought had gone in to every single image, many of which featured the University itself – from the circuit board representing DMU’s unique  Cyber Security Centre  to the  Faculty of Health and Life Sciences’ state-of-the-art electron microscope, which provided one example of the cutting-edge technology available for students. The advert has already generated lots of very positive comments on social media.
 

 

When all is said and done, the innovation in Higher Education marketing never fails to impress me and I’m certain there will be more that I’ve yet to come across. If you are doing something that little bit different, please let me know…there’s still time to make it into my Creative Clearing Top 10!

Clearing 2013: Are universities facing another bloodbath?

With A level results day fast approaching, universities across the UK are gearing up for the chaotic scramble to fill university places at this time of year. Last year, over 300 institutions and more than 55,700 students obtained their places in Clearing – 4,600 more than in 2011 – the highest recorded to date. Academics and administrators alike are busily clearing the way for Clearing – our only guarantee that we are not quite sure what to expect.

This year represents my 16^th anniversary of involvement with Clearing (17^th if you count the by association experience when my best friend went to university through Clearing back in 1988). It is undoubtedly my busiest thanks to the ever-changing landscape of HE being created as a result of higher fees and the Government’s core and margin policy to restrict and manage the number of students being recruited.

At Birmingham City University, the preparation for ‘Clearing’ started around three months ago, not least because the process of accepting or confirming students on places for undergraduate courses begins in earnest some months earlier than August.

There is a long-standing public misconception that Clearing is solely for A level students and as such begins on A level results day. The official UCAS process itself begins at the start of July and runs until September. It is true that the majority of those entering university hold A levels, however the proportion of the population entering holding A levels actually fell in 2012, while that of UK 18 year olds entering with BTECs increased and has risen by 80% since 2008. Research published in 2011 showed that more than half of 20 to 30-year-olds going on to higher education are BTEC students. Similarly, numbers studying the International Baccalaureate have been steadily rising. Results for the multitude of qualifications now accepted within entry requirements come out from as early as May onwards, enabling their recipients to confirm their places (as a number who attended our recent Open Day in June chose to do).

Clearing last year was described as a ‘bloodbath’. It was definitely a watershed moment: universities fell short of recruitment targets by almost 30,000 representing millions of pounds in lost fee income and a number of Russell Group universities were forced to enter Clearing for the first time, hit hardest by the reduction of AAB students (at this is point I stifle a wry smile, having worked in three post-92 universities that have always relied on Clearing). This created a ripple effect throughout the pecking order, though at BCU we managed to recruit one more student than in 2011.

There can be no doubt that lessons were learned; all universities have treated their recruitment for 2013 with a little caution and a lot more attention. At BCU, we are working harder than ever to ensure prospective students (and parents) recognise the benefits of what we have to offer as a university focused on creative and professional education and research. Our popularity continues with UCAS applications bucking national trends – up 13 compared to 3 per cent. Whether those applications will convert to students sufficient to meet our targets remains to be seen.

Members of staff in Education Liaison, Admissions and the Academic Faculties have already been liaising with our feeder schools and colleges to help secure places for those wanting to come to university this September. Meanwhile, large numbers of staff have been contributing to the preparation for the huge logistical operation that kicks in when universities receive A level results the weekend before results day. Like their counterparts up and down the country, our admissions staff will be working over this weekend in readiness for the communication to confirm places to students who have met their offers and do not need to enter the Clearing process. For those who have not secured or are seeking to change places, we open our Clearing hotline at 8am on August 15 and will have staff on site at five local colleges in Birmingham. We will also be running a dedicated Open Day on Saturday August 17 from 10am-2pm targeted specifically at students seeking to gain entry this September.

Last year, the University received almost 4,000 calls to the hotline and our course enquiries line on Results Day, while our central switchboard took 2,600 calls. This year we have taken the unprecedented step of recruiting and training over 40 staff from across the University to support marketing staff who have traditionally manned the lines.
Rumours abound that the “elite universities” are gearing up for Clearing too. Some have already taken the unusual (some might say risky) step of making unconditional offers based on predicted grades, while others are reportedly dropping their entry requirements substantially to ensure they recover student numbers. This effectively means that the ripple effect we saw during Clearing in 2012 may actually have already started – without many universities realising. Which students will be available in Clearing and with what grades is something of a mystery and some hotlines could turn out to be surprisingly quiet.

Bursaries and scholarships - an incentive or not?

At Birmingham City University, we are mid-way through our regular student number planning sessions to review recruitment targets for the coming cycle and to forecast the pattern in 2014/15 and beyond. In terms of the undergraduate market, as you would expect, we are considering the impact of fees, the emerging trends at subject level and the expansion to ABB of the Government’s core and margin policy. The question that is repeatedly coming up, however, is whether financial incentives have made any difference to our current offer or have the potential to do so.
 
It’s an interesting debate – and I don’t for one minute pretend to have the answers. It’s also one that requires a little clarity.

As a firm believer in the virtues of and rights to access Higher Education, I – like many – am of the view that there should always be financial support that is essentially needs-based and intended to ensure those who require additional financial support are not deterred from University on this basis alone. The National Scholarship Programme has a merit of its own that should not necessarily be linked to recruitment targets or bottom line.

The financial support I am questioning is that which is primarily recruitment driven – to win over particular cohorts to select a specific institution or discipline over and above other HEIs.

It’s a perfectly valid marketing tactic and one that pervades everyday life (‘BOGOF’ still amuses me). Back in November, the Telegraph reported a range of universities offering up to £10,000 to secure ABBs, including some on my patch (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9670355/Universities-paying-10000-to-sign-up-bright-students.html).

A review of BCU’s financial support for 2012/13 against that of competitors found ours to be fairly modest. We did not go down the route of offering large chunks of cash to secure higher performing students or win back numbers in Clearing. That said, we did not lose out on our AAB students (though numbers are fairly small) and our recruitment performance, as per the UCAS figures released earlier this month, was very good by comparison with many others. Our accepted applicant figures – according to UCAS – were up 1.8% on 2011/12 (the reality is that our enrolments after people withdrew or did not turn up were slightly down, but not by much).

Marketing logic tells me that we should be offering financial support packages that are at least on a par with our competitors. Yet I have to wonder that since we did not do this and, as it transpires, did not need to in 2012, would it really make commercial sense to increase the money we give out in future, if it’s potentially to students that would come to us anyway?

A survey of our own enquirers for 12/13 revealed that 60% said bursaries and scholarships were quite or very important, but 69% said they would not affect the students’ decision to apply. Market research released by dh insight this month based on a small sample of Year 13 students predicted As and Bs found little awareness of financial incentives and that it was essentially considered “a nice add on” rather than being a critical part of the decision-making process. Similarly, the Institute of Fiscal Studies reported last November that the uncertainty of the whole process which means that students often do not know what bursaries and scholarships they would be eventually awarded prior to making their application (and often after enrolment) meant that it made little or no difference to their decision.

The issue I have is that much of this research that exists is based purely on student opinions. Unfortunately, we know that what people say and what they do aren’t always the same. Not many students said they would pay fees of up to £9,000, but over 400,000 did and many more intend to do so; UCAS applications for 2013 are up about 3% to date.

I would like to see some robust market research that analyses the support offered at particular HEIs against their actual recruitment, particularly those that did very well in securing AABs and the additional student numbers they were awarded.

So, the question remains…should universities be seeking to provide a competitive market offer when it comes to financial incentives or should they trust that the broader academic offer will be sufficient to recruit the numbers they desire? What's your view?

A personal perspective on the White Paper

Having spent an afternoon trawling through the Government White Paper, it left me perplexed. I'm struggling to see how universities, like mine, despite our rising popularity will benefit, but I'm trying to remain open-minded. This is my personal perspective and my comments on the points that particularly stood out to me.


The report is launched with a foreword that begins: "Our university sector has a proud history and a world-class reputation, attracting students from across the world". That’s true and it’s nice to see the Government acknowledge this, but we won't for much longer with the restrictions the UK Border Agency is putting in place. The message overseas is not a positive one and other countries are being quick to capitalize on the opportunities to divert international students their way.


The second sentence I found particularly amusing as it stated that "Higher Education is a successful public-private partnership: Government funding and institutional autonomy". Unless I'm missing something, the Government funding seems to be reducing and, the last time I checked, autonomy means ‘self-government’, which is hardly the case when our full-time undergraduate numbers are strictly monitored and there is a Government-imposed limit on what we can charge for our services. The partnership, I’d suggest, is an increasingly uneasy one.


The foreword goes on to tell universities that we will be under competitive pressure "to provide better quality and lower cost". How exactly – with a magic wand? Where else does low cost mean better quality?

The Paper itself starts with an admission that “Higher Education has a fundamental value in itself” (I wholeheartedly agree) and that “the challenge [universities] face is putting the undergraduate experience at the heart of the system”. Again, true, but excuse me, I would suggest that most universities have been focusing on putting the student experience at the heart of what we do for some time now because if we don’t, we won’t have any students. I’m also not convinced that restricting student numbers, cutting funding and limiting university income potential are the really best ways to do this.

It points out that “the current system of controls limits student choice because institutions are prevented from expanding in response to demand from applicants”. This has been one of my biggest frustrations: UCAS applications to Birmingham City University rose 63% in a period where our numbers were capped. The Paper talks about creating “a more dynamic sector in which popular institutions can grow”, which sounds fantastic until you take a look at the criteria for releasing places. The Government is going to allow unconstrained recruitment of roughly 65,000 high-achieving students scoring the equivalent of AAB or above – okay, so that keeps the Russell Group happy. It’s also going to create a flexible margin of about 20,000 places to reward universities and colleges “who combine good quality with value for money and whose average tuition charge (after fee waivers) is at or below £7,500 per year.” But what exactly constitutes good quality and value for money and how much influence will the price have on the decision to award extra places? What if, as a result, your university doesn’t meet the eventual criteria but remains one of the most popular? It doesn’t sound like the “level playing field” the Government is keen to foster.

Where I think the Government has it right in terms of creating real market forces is the focus on transparency when it comes to our performance. I do support the plans to “radically improve and expand the information available to prospective students”. Universities should be proud of what they have to offer and unafraid of the indicators that benchmark them. And, in a university where we are leading the way in student engagement (on the back of our THE ‘Outstanding support for Students’ win last year), it’s not surprising that I support the move towards greater student feedback and consultation. Our services should be market-driven.


I do fundamentally agree – though I might not like the personal implications for my family – of having a system where the beneficiaries make a larger contribution to their costs on a “pay as you earn” basis. What I’m less comfortable with are plans to charge a levy on those who want to pay off their loans early. Consultation on the Early Repayment is taking place now and, following all the negative publicity about the fee rises, it’s particularly important we get this right.  To make sure your voice is heard, visit www.bis.gov/HEreform.


On the whole, for me, the White Paper raises more questions than it answers and is somewhat self-contradictory. I do sympathize with the “enormous deficit” and resulting “spending pressures” the Government has inherited, but I am particularly anxious about plans to reduce the core allocation of student numbers at universities every year, particularly if the focus on additional numbers remains cost-driven and on an assumption that better quality equates to lower cost.