Acceptors and Decliners Barometer
In a highly competitive university recruitment market, prospective students face a world of choice. To thrive under such challenging market conditions, education providers require a comprehensive understanding of the constantly changing needs, views and expectations of prospective and current students. Attracting the right student applicants and converting these to offers and enrolments is crucial for institutions in securing their reputation and financial future. The Acceptors and Decliners Barometer has been developed by i-graduate to help institutions track the perceptions of students, with the aim of improving conversion rates.
What are the benefits for your institution?
• Provides evidence to build and support your marketing strategy and refine your tactics – to focus marketing expenditure where it works
• Provides you with a relevant and accurate assessment of your positioning in different markets - plus benchmarking against your competitors at the point of student application
• Identifies your real, current competitors in individual markets, as perceived by the applicants
• Identifies the most effective information channels currently being deployed, and how important they are in student consideration/choice
• Enables you to adapt your offers procedure - to ensure that offers of places are made to applicants who have a real likelihood of taking up a place
• Identifies your strengths and weaknesses as an institution
What is covered in the study?
• The decision-making process (How do students applying to your institution make their choices about higher education?)
• Recommendation (From friends, family, agents, teachers, careers advisors, alumnus)
• Reputation (League tables, media coverage, prestige, reputation of research/ department/ lecturer)
• The application process (Speed of response, helpfulness of staff)
• Information (Website, prospectus, relevance and quality of information)
• Open days (Organisation of the day, student attendance, staff, facilities)
• Location of the institution (Distance from home, proximity to friends/family, transport links, local city/town)
• The experience (Social life, sports facilities, campus, accommodation, support services)
• Costs (Tuition fees, cost of living, scholarships)
• Employability (Opportunities for part-time work/ work experience placements during studies, reputation with employers)
• Entrance requirements (Are they set at the right level?)
• Course (Teaching, course content, relevance to employers)
• Competition (What makes students apply to you, what makes them accept your offer, which other institutions do they apply to and why, what makes them decide to take up an offer elsewhere?)
For more information, please contact Felice Nightingale (felice.nightingale@i-graduate.org)