Format
The range of formats for publicity has been expanding with new technology, and prospective students increasingly use the internet and search engines to find courses. However, some colleges’ web-sites do not address HE-specific issues. If the web-site does not have a dedicated section on higher education, colleges should ensure that a search on the term produces results. The web-site should incorporate a range of links to further sources of information, including student support and employment opportunities. West Thames College won the College Marketing Network’s First Award in the Higher Education Prospectus category in 2007, and New College Nottingham was runner up.
Social networking sites are also an increasingly significant factor, with students informally circulating information about their experiences. Some institutions are setting up their own networking spaces; again, these are more likely to appeal to younger students and those living away from home.
Leeds College of Art and Design
From the web-site, on social networking
For many of us, the internet is our playground. But we’re also using the web and associated technologies in increasingly intelligent and complex ways! For example, it’s ideal for meeting people who are interested in the same art and design ideas, and for sharing ideas with them.
We’ve set up official College social network groups which allow you to more easily form social links with other students. It’s great for new students to get up to speed more quickly, and it’s good for staying up-to-date with college and course news and events. And it’s a brilliant way to start up your own discussion topics, chat, discuss, ask for help, share your passions and promote your own events!
Why not visit our creative networks and connect with current Leeds College of Art & Design students through your favourite social networking sites?
Colleges targeting a national audience for specialist courses, or an international client group, find the internet a particularly useful tool. They are likely to focus more on the
social attractions of the college and environs and on college-provided accommodation or accommodation services.
UCAS
Inclusion in UCAS Course Search will reach a national audienc minimum requirement for membership of UCAS is for an institution to offer at least one full-time HE course (including foundation degrees and HNDs), although there are also other requirements. In terms of cost, in 2008 there was a £3,000 administrative fee on joining, and thereafter either a fee of £17 per applicant successfully placed or a fee of £1,000, whichever was the greater. Over 100 colleges have entries in UCAS; these are mostly directly funded colleges.
The entry must include all the college’s (prescribed) HE courses, including any indirectly funded provision, and should indicate the validating and awarding body. Programmes may only be listed once in UCAS Course Search. For many indirectly funded colleges, they are listed under the entry for their partner or franchising HEI. The presentation and wording vary, and it is advisable for colleges to agree this with their partner institutions. The three examples below from UCAS Course Search show how HEIs’ college partners can be presented.
UCAS Course Search
• The University of Plymouth’s courses are also available at [list of colleges]. The University of Plymouth validates programmes of study within the remit of the UCAS scheme to [list of colleges].
• The University of Hertfordshire [UCAS code] together with [list of colleges] form the Hertfordshire Higher Education Consortium which promotes higher education in Hertfordshire.
• Staffordshire University Regional Federation (SURF) has a separate entry in UCAS noting that:
SURF is a regional consortium of the nine Staffordshire further education (FE) colleges, the two Shropshire FE colleges and Staffordshire University. It was established in May 2000 for the delivery of higher education courses through FE colleges in the Staffordshire/Shropshire region.
UCAS offers the opportunity to write an Entry Profile for all courses offered by colleges. These profiles cover information on:
• entry routes • selection criteria
• skills and qualifications required for entry • course outcomes
• course descriptions
• information about the institution.
Entry Profiles offer considerable space to describe course provision and target specific groups. To help students, UCAS provides guidance on how to use Entry Profiles
The UCAS web-site has a section for mature students; this alerts them to HE courses at FE colleges and the attraction of local provision. It also suggests that, as standard entry
requirements may not apply to mature students, it is a good idea to make direct contact with the admissions tutor for the course before making a formal application.
UCAS is able to provide support to colleges to market their provision. The UCAS data also give early indications of trends, which can be helpful to inform strategic planning.
UCAS
UCAS offers a range of data and statistical reports for its member institutions. Reports range from the weekly Situation Report, which gives a broad overview across all institutions of the total numbers of applicants and their status in the process, to a bimonthly analysis of the number of applications for each individual course at an institution, by the choice stated.
Annual datasets also show retrospective data for the past five years, covering a range of themes including age, subject, domicile, ethnicity and social class. These can be
manipulated for deeper analysis.
The UCAS Data Insight team offers training and support in using and analysing data on a chargeable basis. Data Insight also offers a web-based service called Applicant Tracker, which allows UCAS member institutions to track total applications on a weekly basis, immediately identify trends, and compare their institution to their competitor market.
The timescale from proposing an HE programme through to getting it validated by an HEI means that the entry in UCAS may be two years in advance of the programme starting, so it may need to be listed as subject to validation or approval.
NSS and the Unistats web-site
The annual National Student Survey is commissioned by HEFCE and conducted by Ipsos MORI. The results are published on the Unistats web-site used by potential students or their parents when choosing courses. For students’ views on a particular college and/or course or subject to be published, at least 50 per cent of eligible students must respond, with a minimum of 23 responses. This has implications for FECs, where courses are more likely not to reach this threshold. The results are provided in greater depth on the Ipsos MORI NSS dissemination web-site
indirectly funded students’ responses are being combined on the Unistats site. The UCAS web-site has a link to Unistats, via Students/News (see also Section 10).
Promotion
Carefully targeted publicity in local (or national) newspapers and journals may attract wide attention. The Association of Colleges (AoC) marketing network and press office can supply journalists with news features and case studies, and arranges student and staff interviews; information and support are available at
Where funds are limited, colleges may work in partnership with other local institutions to market the range of HE programmes available in a comprehensive brochure, or on a
regional web-site such a
Networks also provide opportunities for marketing HE courses.
National events such as Adult Learners Week (in May each year) can be used to promote a college’s HE courses. The National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE,
ordinators.
Careers services, e.g. the Adult Advancement and Careers Service, should be kept fully informed of developments at the college, and invited on a regular basis to visit the provision.
Students themselves are an important marketing tool and can be used at open days and visits to schools. When on work placements, they are key to impressing employers of the value of the course.
A graduation event for HE students is very popular with students and their families, and an ideal marketing opportunity. Some colleges hold their own graduation event; others are included in the ceremonies of validating universities.
Colleges with large numbers of HE students may wish to develop alumni associations. These can enable colleges to use student success to market HE provision effectively. Information on the destination of graduates is required for HEFCE-funded courses, and can also be a valuable source from which to develop an association linking former students and keeping track of their progress. FECs rarely have alumni associations, but an example from a former FEC on the web is University College Birmingham (formerly Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies).
Partnerships
Provision offered at partner colleges may be listed in an HEI’s prospectus; this is likely to be advantageous for a college. The college’s publicity material needs to identify the validating university – the college may need to check the agreement with its partner(s) (which may be in the formal memorandum of agreement) as to the rules governing its use of HEI logos and the wording of marketing material (see Section 4).
Colleges in partnership may refer to courses offered in partner colleges in their publicity, and some partnerships have collective marketing activities.
West Herts College
West Herts College is a member of the Hertfordshire Higher Education Consortium (HHEC), which includes the four FECs in Hertfordshire plus the university. The HHEC has a formal committee structure, including the Consortium Management Committee (CMC).
A CMC sub-committee takes responsibility for marketing the consortium’s provision in a holistic and collaborative way. This sub-committee comprises marketing managers from all four FECs, plus marketing executives based in the university faculties where
consortium provision is validated. All five institutions commit an annual budget to cover marketing activities in the consortium.
The university’s marketing communications manager has been tasked with putting together a marketing plan for the consortium, in conjunction with senior managers at all five institutions and based on the HE strategy discussions that took place last summer. This has resulted in a successful bid by a local marketing company to develop a
campaign (including updating the prospectus, poster campaigns etc) to raise the profile of the consortium’s provision and develop a ‘brand’. It also involves raising the profile of consortium provision internally within the university.
The benefits of this approach are pooled resources, a strong alliance between the five institutions that will be reflected in the promotional materials produced, and increased awareness and understanding of the distinctiveness of the HE in FE offering – as opposed to its being a ‘second chance’ or, worse still, a ‘backstop’ for those who do not make the grade for a full honours degree at the university.
HEI guidance services should be kept informed about the partners’ provision; a significant amount of referral across institutions takes place at this level, even in a competitive environment. Admissions and student services should work closely together to ensure that guidance staff understand the procedures for local applications and, where appropriate, for UCAS application.