UK based institutions widely rely on UCAS applications as part of their admissions process, but there are other ways of maximising control over international admissions.
Based in the heart of London, Ravensbourne is an innovative, industry-focused university sector college nurturing the talent sought in digital media and design careers. Ravensbourne houses a community of approximately 2,400 students and over 100 creative technology businesses, emphasising creativity and collaboration
As per the traditional method of Institutions, Ravensbourne relied on UCAS for home based applications. Juggling between pen, paper, printers and spreadsheets; managing International admissions was quite a different story.
The institution was challenged with the inability to easily follow up on initial enquiries. Captured inside a spreadsheet received via an administrators email, manual action was required whereby the email addresses were uploaded to another system to send mailouts.
Initial Enquiry Management: Acting as a CRM, the enquiry management solution allows the marketing team to capture data on any device, for example at open days or while abroad at exhibition fairs. The solution automatically sends and tracks scheduled introductory emails to maintain touch point between the interest and applications stages.
With at least five different routes, the institution was juggling various forms and form versions. Editing these meant waiting on technical support from the IT team, and analysing applications submitted required third party programmes. Creating reports from the data captured meant reverting back to spreadsheets.
Applications Management & Admissions: The institution benefits from an end-to-end paperless system that manages all its international admissions routes (Pre-sessional English, Further Education, Under Graduate and Post Graduate). The solution comes with the ability to create & configure custom application forms and workflows in minutes by non-technical staff. The admissions solution also allows users to generate both pre-set and custom reports designed to track all KPIs.
The institution has over 100 agents and partners all across the world who contribute applications each recruitment cycle. The management of applications received through external partners was messy, with no default requirement. External partners would email or fax in information, often missing out important documents and requiring substantial follow up.
Agent-Partner Management & Portal: The solution allows granting restricted and specific access, as in the case with agents and partners who can make enquires and applications on behalf of clients. The portals give a real time view of enquiries, the applications pipeline, applicant numbers and agent performance levels. Real time data analysis can be undertaken as soon as the data is added into the system, streamlining multi-relationship management and providing greater in-cycle market analysis.