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In this article, we’re sharing findings from a recent survey of over 1,500 students which reveals what students were most concerned about, whether they know about the alternatives if they don’t meet their university offer and what factors have contributed to anxiety around revision and exam performance this year.

LACK OF CONFIDENCE AND WORRIES ABOUT EXAM RESULTS

Students are far more concerned about exam results this year compared to 2017, with more students in England and Wales feeling more negative than they were last year.

Almost all respondents (93%) were worried they won’t get the results they need and 76% expressed feelings of anxiety or desperation about Results Day.

We uncovered the key contributing factors towards student’s revision and A-Level Results Day concerns:

• Over half (57%) of students are not sure what the available options are if they don’t get their firm university choice.
• 53% of students felt their revision/exam performance suffered from this year’s tremendous heatwave.
• 72% of students felt that they lacked access to enough relevant practice papers before their exams.

The research also highlights how parents and teachers could have done more to reassure anxious students; with only a quarter (25%) of respondents saying their parents are making them feel better about Results Day.

It’s similar for teachers too, 32% said teachers made them feel worse about receiving their grades and only 26% agreed their teachers have helped calm them down. One student took to The Student Room to share their experience:

“Most of [my teachers] were pretty awful with the amount of pressure they put on me, especially since they knew I had depression and anxiety during year 11.”

ENCOURAGING CONFIDENCE IN YOUNG PEOPLE                                                   

With Results Day today and Clearing open, we expect to exceed our biggest day for on-site activity ever, last year we had 550,000 users on Results Day with 1.5 million page views. So, when students turn to us at a time they’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed, we’re making sure they are met with useful, friendly and life-changing advice.

To counteract the Results Day panic, we’re continuing to run our #BeResultsProud campaign, which is based around empowering students with confidence and inspiration for their next steps.

The idea of our campaign is to send out messages of support to all students, encouraging them to be proud of their results, whatever the letter – or in this year’s case, the number – grade may be.

UNCLEAR IN ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

Over half (57%) of A-level students don’t know what their options are if they don’t get their firm university choice. This indicates how there’s still more to be done around educating students on Clearing & Adjustment, as well as the UCAS process and alternatives to university.

When speaking to students we found of those that would consider Clearing still had a lack of understanding around what the process involves.

We’ve seen a very similar pattern on The Student Room. Check out some of the recent discussions and requests for advice about their next steps:

“What steps and procedures are there in Clearing?”

“I may have to re-sit some subjects if I don’t do well but if I don’t need to do that what should I do?”

“I have been thinking about a gap year, but I am really unsure about what I would be able to do, especially since it is a path I never imagined myself taking”

The Student Room is the place where young people turn to for expert and peer-to-peer advice on life-changing decisions. Last year we helped 1,567,000 users who came to us for support over the results period. Explore how we can help you connect with and support this undecided audience by offering them another option through your courses in Clearing this September.

The post HOW STUDENTS ARE FEELING ABOUT RESULTS DAY 2018 appeared first on The Student Room Group.

We’re sharing key insights from our experience with you, so you can you can get a flavour of where the media interest lies and shape up your Results Day PR.

THE IMPACT OF FEWER AS LEVELS

The roll-out process of linear A-levels is ongoing, leading to a 60% decrease in exam entries for AS. Now students are required to pick three A-levels and continue them throughout their two years, as opposed to choosing four subjects and dropping one AS, which was the case previously.

The only exception for this has been in Maths which continues to be a modular course. The vast majority of A-level Maths students will sit the regular exams, so you can expect a similar pattern to last year.

However, exam boards have set a new linear Maths paper this summer which has been adopted by roughly 2,000 Year 12 students looking to take Further Maths in their second year. Therefore, the results for this new course are expected to be very high. This is not due to the course being easy but because the brightest and most able students will have undertaken the new exam this year.

MORE STEM STUDENTS AT A-LEVEL

Entries in STEM A-levels subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths have shown a slow and steady growth in the last few years. There is a consequent decrease in entries for arts and humanities subjects such as English, History and Geography.

This correlation could be due to the increasing perception that STEM subjects have been seen as high value for employability.

PATTERN ON A-LEVEL RESULTS DAY 2018

The principle of “comparable outcomes” applies again this year, meaning exam boards have kept standards the same, so you can expect similar results to 2017.

However, there is an element of “centre volatility” as the linear courses are new to teachers, meaning some might take longer than others to get used to teaching the curriculum, which can have a direct effect on grades.

This year there’s also uncertainty around the impact of the rise in unconditional offers. We’re yet to know how the increase has influenced students but we know students react to unconditional offers in different ways.

GCSE GRADE REFORM

The new 9-1 GCSE grade boundaries have rolled out across all the big subjects this year.

This is the first-time students might not get the same grade for Double Science. Students will be receiving two GCSEs for Double grade Science which will either be equal or sequential.

Most tiered GCSEs will continue to have lower grade boundaries (Sciences and Maths). In November 2017 students only needed 13% on the Higher paper to achieve a 4 which is a ‘standard pass’.

We can also expect confusion to continue around the new 9-1 grading system for GCSE students, in particular on what the grade requirements are to start an A-level programme.

INDEPENDENT COMMISSION FOR EXAM MALPRACTICE

Last year, 2,715 students were penalised in exams for malpractice, a 25% increase from 2016. This has led to the setting up of an independent commission into malpractice and the effect of social media and new technologies. The investigation will begin in September 2018 and report in the Spring of next year.

Want to find out more? Talk to us about how The Student Room can enhance your PR strategy and put your brand in the centre of student discussion.

The post MEDIA PREDICTIONS – RESULTS DAY 2018 appeared first on The Student Room Group.

The Student Room Group (TSR) is the largest, most useful and best-loved online student community there is. Millions of students turn to us first for advice, info and support on work, learning and life’s ups and downs. And that means we’re uniquely privileged to connect educators, employers and consumer brands to switched-on young people actively seeking out answers and meaningful connections.

What does the HR & Operations Assistant at TSR do?

Working alongside our HR Manager, this role has responsibility for keeping everything that relates to our employees, and the experience they have working at TSR, running smoothly and successfully.

This role is an ideal opportunity for someone who is looking to take the next chapter in their HR career. Due to the broad range of duties involved, you will quickly see how your contribution will help to make a big difference across the entire organisation. There are lots of exciting new projects to get involved with as we are always keen to be the best we can possibly be. Project work includes streamlining and automating recruitment and onboarding processes, redesigning processes and helping develop policies.

In July 2018 we won the Brighton & Hove Business Award for “Employer of the Year”. We think it is important to offer a great working environment to every one of our employees, temporary staff and contractors who are all based in our central Brighton office. We are therefore looking for someone to join the team who wants to play a key part in helping us continue to do just that.

Key role responsibilities

Recruitment:

You will have full responsibility for managing TSR’s recruitment from advertising to job offers and will play a key part in shaping our future processes. You will advertise and promote vacancies, liaise with recruitment agencies, be the main point of contact for candidates, keep records up to date and accurate and will organise and attend first stage interviews. You will also manage and support candidates through psychometric assessments and provide feedback verbally and in writing to unsuccessful candidates.

Onboarding:

By being really organised, you will set up offer letters, contracts, references and all other new starter documentation. Welcoming new starters and providing them with advice and support, you will get to know them and will organise and deliver new starter HR induction sessions. Building their tailored inductions plans and connecting them with an internal buddy will be important. Keeping track of probations and success in roles will also be key.

Payroll & reporting:

You will collate monthly payroll documents, information and help complete final checks. Support with our annual salary review and benchmarking project will be required. Occasionally ad-hoc reports and statistics will be needed for metrics such as headcount and employee turnover.

Manage HR administration tasks:

• Keep employee data up to date using the PeopleHR system
• Manage day-to-day employee queries
• Understand TSR’s benefit schemes including Scottish Widows pension scheme, private healthcare, life insurance, Ride to Work scheme, child care vouchers, flexible working etc.
• Process and renew DBS checks
• Book training courses and maintain training records
• Take responsibility for new and existing HR projects
• Understand and offer support on OKR’s using the 7Geese system

Operational support:

A smaller part of the role is providing admin support to Chief Operating Officer. This may include things like preparing management and board meeting documents, reporting, expenses and managing company mobile phones. You may also be asked to help with organising external and internal company events, including travel.

This opportunity will suit someone who has:

• Previous experience working in a similar HR role
• Basic employment law knowledge (as a minimum)
• Solid technical experience using online HR systems/databases, plus Microsoft packages
• CIPD level 3 or above would be highly advantageous
• A degree (or equivalent) is desirable, but not essential

We also need you to have:

• Confidence when communicating and building relationships at all levels of the organisation
• A practical, proactive, solution focussed approach
• A friendly, positive, “can do” attitude
• Excellent attention to detail
• Enthusiasm to help generate new ideas
• Excellent prioritisation and organisational skills
• High levels of integrity and confidentiality
• An interest in technology and digital

Working at TSR

We really care about employee development, happiness, wellness and work life balance. We offer a welcoming, friendly and supportive working environment in the heart of Brighton, plus we enjoy lots of great benefits including-

• A competitive salary
• Generous commission scheme based on team targets
• 25 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays
• Your birthday day off
• Opportunities for ongoing learning and development
• Flexible working hours and arrangements
• Group Life insurance
• Generous pension scheme
• Private healthcare
• Healthcare Cash Plan
• Childcare vouchers
• Cycle to work Scheme
• Pet friendly workplace
• Fresh fruit
• Friday afternoon drinks
• Regular social, team and charity fundraising events

Does the above role sound like the next step in your career? If so, we encourage you to apply by sending us your current CV and a cover letter. We would love to know more about you, your career aspirations and salary expectation. Send these documents to hr@thestudentroom.com and we will be sure to include you in our shortlisting processes.

To stay up to date on all of TSR’s vacancies then follow us on twitter and Facebook @TSRcareers, or find us on LinkedIn

TSR is dedicated to providing an inclusive working environment that encourages diversity and equal opportunities for all. We are committed to supporting a team that is representative of a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills.

As part of our recruitment process, TSR collects, stores and processes personal data relating to job applicants. Please read our Job Application Privacy Policy to understand how we use and protect the information you provide, both in your application and at other stages of the recruitment process.

The post WE’RE HIRING! HR & Operations Assistant appeared first on The Student Room Group.

We’re sharing findings from our recent survey to give you a window into student spending behaviour: when they are looking to make big purchases and what content will make your marketing communications resonate with this consumer market.

FUNCTIONALITY VS PRICE

Our report revealed what students truly value when it comes to consumer products. In terms of purchasing technology, such as a new phone, students told us they prioritise the functionality in a product over the price.

When sharing marketing communications with students, you might think a discount is the only thing you need to grab the attention of students, however, our research shows they value a product for its practicality. Use this information to ensure you’re focused on promoting what the product has to offer that your competitors can’t, before pushing any numbers.

WHO’S DECIDING AND WHO’S SPENDING?

Keep the parents close, but your target market even closer. Parents play a huge role in funding students at university with 23% having their parents as their main source of income. And it doesn’t stop there, students told us their parents helped them out with multiple purchases preparing them for university:

• 28% of students’ parents made their retail purchases 
• 60% of students still have their parents pay their phone bill
• 29% of students’ parents made their technology purchases

Although, the parents are the ones providing the money, 88% of students said even if someone else paid for the purchases they make the ultimate decision themselves. So, ensure your campaign makes an impact and influences the end consumer of your product before their parents, as young people are the ones making that decision, even if it’s not them paying for it.

Can’t get enough of our stats? Download and read the full report here.

BEST TIME TO ADVERTISE

Young people are not impulsive spendthrifts. We see students planning their spending every day as they speak to their peers on The Student Room, looking for advice and recommendations with their purchases. Check out some of the recent discussions:

“Girls, what is your experience with clothes from Miss Selfridge?”

“Anybody bought from boohoo.com?”

“Best place to buy bedding…”

“Confused about bank accounts”

“Contract or buy a high-end phone outright?”

“Which laptop should I buy?!”

We found students tend to be more considered with their spending and their finances, with a whopping 75% of all respondents stating they did or will open a new student account before actually starting university.

In terms of purchasing, 44% said they plan their purchases and 20% take up to a day to decide what they want to buy. So, when is the perfect time to get students buying?

In terms of retail, we found 40% of students will make purchases 1-4 weeks before starting university.

Similarly, students plan in advance with their spending with tech devices as well:

• 58% said they bought or planned to buy a new laptop before starting university 
• 29% of Year 13 students are likely or likely to upgrade their phone before going to university 

Trends showcased that students were most likely to purchase items for university before they start in September. With these statistics, we recommend reaching out to Freshers at the beginning of summer allowing them time to consider their purchases and buy up to 4 weeks before they start.

You have your when and the what to but there’s also the question of where to advertise?

With 10 million monthly users, The Student Room is the perfect platform to advertise products to the youth market and students showing intent-to-buy signals, find out more.

The post ADVERTISING TO STUDENT CONSUMERS – THE WHEN, WHAT AND WHERE FOR BRANDS appeared first on The Student Room Group.

The law regarding Data Protection has changed. With the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 employers have extra responsibilities when it comes to the processing of data about you.

Part of an employer’s obligation is to explain to staff (employees, workers and contractors), candidates and applicants what will happen to their data. This document is that explanation.

What is the purpose of this document?

For data protection purposes The Student Room Group Limited is known as a “data controller”. This means that, as an employer, we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you.

• We are required by law to notify you of the information that is contained in this privacy notice.

The rules in this notice apply to current employees, workers, contractors, candidates and applicants. It will continue to apply and have effect even when you have left The Student Room Group Limited.

• This notice does not form part of any contract of employment or any other contract to provide personal services.

It is important that you read this notice, together with any other privacy notice we may provide on specific occasions from time to time, so that you are aware of how and why The Student Room Group Limited is using such information.

Data protection ‘principles’

What kind of information do we/may we hold about you?

The Student Room Group Limited will collect, store and use the following categories of personal information about you:

• Personal contact details such as name, title, addresses, telephone numbers and personal email addresses that you have supplied;
• Your date of birth;
• Your gender;
• Your marital status and details of dependants;
• Next of kin details and emergency contact information;
• Your National Insurance number;
• Your bank account details, your payroll details/records and your tax details;
• Your salary, annual leave allowance information, pension and benefits information;
• Your start date and length of service;
• Your location of employment or workplace;
• A copy of your driving licence, where needed;
• Recruitment information about you (including copies of right to work documentation, (such as a passport) references and other information included in a CV or covering letter or as part of the application process);
• Your employment records with The Student Room Group Limited (including job titles, work history, working hours, training records, professional memberships and disciplinary and grievance materials);
• Performance review records;
• Security camera static images of you and other information obtained through electronic means such as swipe-card records and the like;
• Information recorded about your use of our information, technology, computer and communications systems.
• Psychometric test results

As stated, we may also collect, store and use the following “special categories” of more sensitive personal information (also known as ‘sensitive personal data’):

• Information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and political opinions. This is typically retained for monitoring purposes or it might be disclosed in the context of grievance or disciplinary proceedings;
• Information about your health, including any medical condition, health and sickness records;
• Biometric data in the form of finger prints for electronic device access;
• Information about criminal convictions and offences. Such information is obtained via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

How do we use sensitive personal information?

We will use your sensitive personal information/data in the following ways:

• We will use information relating to leaves of absence, which may include sickness absence or family-related leave, to comply with employment and other laws;
• We will use information about your physical or mental health, or disability status, to ensure your health and safety in the workplace and to assess your fitness to work, to provide appropriate workplace adjustments, to monitor and manage sickness absence and to administer benefits;
• We will use information about your race or national or ethnic origin, religious, philosophical or moral beliefs, or your sexual life or sexual orientation, to ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting;

You should be aware that it is not a condition of your contract that you consent to any form of processing.

How do we collect your personal information?

The Student Room Group Limited collects personal information about its employees, workers, contractors, candidates or applicants either directly during employment, hire or engagement or through its application and recruitment processes.

The information may be supplied directly from the individual employee, worker or contractor. Candidates also supply information directly but information about an individual may come from an employment agency or other background check provider.

We may sometimes collect additional information about employees, workers, contractors, candidates or applicants from third parties including their former employers/hirers, credit reference agencies or other background check agencies.

We will collect additional personal information about you in the course of job-related activities throughout the period of you working for us.

What will we do with the information we collect about you?

What are the sort of situations in which you will use my personal information?

The Student Room Group Limited needs all the categories of information in the list above (see What kind of information do we/may we hold about you?) for a number of purposes:

1. To allow us to perform our contract with you;
2. To enable us to comply with our legal obligations;
3. In some cases, we may use your personal information to pursue The Student Room Group Limited’s ‘legitimate interests’, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

The situations in which we will process your personal information are listed below.

• Making a decision about your recruitment or appointment or promotion/demotion;
• Determining the terms on which you work for The Student Room Group Limited;
• Checking you are legally entitled to work in the UK;
• Paying you and, as appropriate, deducting tax and National Insurance contributions;
• Providing you with relevant benefits, such as medical cover;
• Liaising with your pension provider;
• Administering and managing the contract that The Student Room Group Limited has entered into with you;
• Business management and planning, including accounting and auditing;
• Conducting performance reviews, managing performance and determining performance requirements;
• Making decisions about salary reviews and compensation;
• Assessing qualifications for a particular job or task, including decisions about promotions;
• Gathering evidence for possible grievance or disciplinary hearings;
• Making decisions about your continued employment or engagement;
• Making arrangements and decisions for the termination of the working relationship;
• Education, training and development requirements;
• Dealing with legal disputes involving you, or other employees, workers, contractors, candidates or applicants, including accidents at work;
• Ascertaining your fitness to work;
• Managing sickness absence;
• Complying with health and safety obligations;
• To prevent fraud;
• To monitor your use of our information and communication systems to ensure compliance with our IT policies;
• To ensure network and information security, including preventing unauthorised access to our computer and electronic communications systems and preventing malicious software distribution;
• To conduct data analytics studies to review and better understand employee retention and attrition rates; and
• Equal opportunities monitoring.

Some of the above grounds for processing will overlap and there may be several grounds which justify our use of your personal information.

What if you fail or refuse to provide personal information when asked?

If you fail to provide certain information when requested, The Student Room Group Limited may not be able to perform the contract we have entered into with you (such as paying you or providing a benefit) or we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations (such as to ensure the health and safety of our workers).

Reasons for Processing Personal Information

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Where this is required or permitted by law we may process your personal information without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules.

Information about criminal convictions

Sharing your data

How secure is my information with third-party providers?

All our third-party service providers and other entities in the group are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

How secure is my data?

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data retention – How long will you use my information for?

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal information are available in our retention policy which is available from Human Resources.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you.

Once you are no longer an employee, worker or contractor or candidate/applicant of The Student Room Group Limited we will retain and securely destroy your personal information in accordance with our applicable legal obligations.

Rights of access, correction, erasure and restriction

Your duty to inform us of changes

It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes during your working relationship with us.

Your rights in connection with personal information

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
• Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
• Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
• Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
• Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example, if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
• Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.

If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact Human Resources in writing.

No fee usually required

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

What we may need from you

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

Right to withdraw consent

In the limited circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact Human Resources. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law. [We should decide on which processing is based on consent and ensure, we obtain and records consents.]

Data Protection Officer

We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) to oversee compliance with this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact the DPO.

• Email address: data.protection@thestudentroom.com
• Postal address:International House, Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XE

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

Changes to this privacy notice

The Student Room Group Limited reserves the right to update this privacy notice at any time, and we may provide you with a new privacy notice when we make any important updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal information.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, please contact Human Resources (email: hr@thestudentroom.com).

The post TSR privacy notice to candidates and applicants appeared first on The Student Room Group.

As the UK’s largest online student community, millions of young people turn to TSR every month to research their next steps, ask questions and seek support about their life choices. This huge pool of highly receptive users have a clear requirement for expert advice, making it the perfect fit for The National Careers Service to continue providing life-changing guidance.

Increasing their reach wasn’t the only objective, they also wanted to encourage quality conversation with those students in need. We implemented an Official Rep, a TSR account allowing brands to have authentic discussion with users on site. This effective method of communication puts brands on the front line and allows them to answer questions and provide direct and valuable advice.

Sophie Graham, Education and Awareness Co-ordinator at The National Careers Service, commented:

“The flexibility of TSR allows the National Careers Service to be more visible to students at key times throughout the academic year. We have been able to support students going through their exams and with their next steps after school, college and university.”

AN AUTHENTIC AND AUTHORITATIVE VOICE IN THE STUDENT SPACE

Striving to deliver the best possible advice to all young people, The National Careers Service’s Official Rep has given them an extra digital dimension to do what they do best. Having an authentic voice in the student space and the ability to talk directly to young people on a trusted platform has allowed them to give one-on-one advice to over 20,000 students in just four months.

Not only have The National Careers service achieved their objective to extend their reach, but their Official Rep has given them the opportunity to help more people with less resources. With thousands of students on one platform, one person is now able to provide support to a handful of students in the same time it would take them to speak to one student via other forms of communication such as email or telephone.

It’s also been an effective brand awareness tool for The National Careers Service. They have boosted brand perceptions in the youth market and encouraged more people to recognise them as a professional body for advice and make the most of their useful service.

Sophie Graham commented on their experience working with TSR:

“TSR understood the aims and objectives of the National Careers Service and supported us to ensure we could empower individuals of all ages to achieve their goals. We have been able to reach almost 20,000 students in a short space of time which has been made possible with the support of the staff at TSR and their fantastic community team. They are always on hand to support us and our presence on TSR has given our service an extra digital dimension.

Our team is extremely pleased and proud of what we have been able to achieve on TSR in a short space of time. We hope that we are able to continue partnering with TSR long into the future as we have seen some fantastic outcomes and been able to genuinely support students from all over the country with their careers.”

Want to find out more about how a genuine and authoritative channel of communication can connect you to thousands of students looking for information on their next steps? Talk to us about your requirements.

The post HOW THE NATIONAL CAREERS SERVICE REACHED A WIDER STUDENT AUDIENCE appeared first on The Student Room Group.

By Tony Lyons, Head of Commercial Marketing at TSR.

“I suppose I’m becoming a little bit of an old hand at this Clearing thing; it’s hard to believe I’m on my third at TSR and have experienced four in various roles at universities, including Head of Marketing.

Coming onto the media side of the fence has been an eye-opener in terms of traps you can fall into, and opportunities you can miss, when managing Clearing. Below I’ve captured a few things I wish I knew when I was a client. What do you think? Have I missed anything obvious or do you disagree with anything below?

LET US DO THE HEAVY LIFTING (FOR FREE)

The Student Room has UCAS trained advisors on hand to provide useful support and information to millions of students each year. Even if you’re not a client, remember you can always direct people to TSR and put them in touch with our abundance of trained users sharing advice to students going through Clearing.

This keeps your call handlers and social media team free to deal with potential students and allows you to send anyone else to us, we’ll look after them, I promise.

STAY TIGHT TO YOUR SUPPLIERS

Look out for late-to-market opportunities. We’re super-agile nowadays and react to changes in the market-place and student behaviour. For example, I’ve recently tweaked our powerful SMS product to give us hyper-relevant subject audiences in the days before Clearing.

So, stay tight to your suppliers and keep a keen eye out for last minute tactical opportunities. And don’t forget results day itself – have you contingency planned? Savvy clients will have plans in place for last minute media when their results come in, or on results day itself. By working closely with your media supplier you’ll ensure access to top opportunities, available inventory and be best positioned to react effectively.

ADS

You might love that 70 second html5 billboard using the rise of the Roman Empire as an allegory for your brand, but remember Clearing & Adjustment is noisy and crowded. We find that single frame jpegs frequently outperform more complex executions so keep it simple. But don’t take my word for it – follow the data – the best media will work with you to a/b test your creative and make sure you get the best results out of every piece of inventory.

We’ll also be happy to schedule new creatives for Results Day / week in advance, this way you’ll have the most audience appropriate call-to-action. If that CTA is “call now” then be sure to use click-to-call (again, your media should be happy to work with you on implementing this).

EMAIL

Email is a go-to for Clearing and Adjustment, but a word to the wise – choose a media partner who sends one email per subject, per day. Clearing databases can be highly-targeted and highly-timely, but some media choose to over-send and in doing so burnout their audience quickly. Be sure to ask your supplier or agency how many sends per subject per day and then make your judgement call.

Also, if you target a course specific audience by email then please, please call that out in the subject line. “Study English at a top 50 uni” will always outperform “Study at…”.

Finally, we have carefully created Adjustment audiences for highly-engaged students that always perform well but clients don’t tend to consider. With many Clearing audiences already spoken for (across all media), savvy clients would do well to ask questions regarding Adjustment audiences.

If you want to chat Clearing and Adjustment generally or have any audiences you need to target or courses that need a helping hand, then drop me a line or contact your account manager here.”

Good luck with Results Season,

Tony

The post “THINGS I WISH I KNEW WHEN I WAS A CLIENT DURING CLEARING” appeared first on The Student Room Group.

With the choice of courses, the selection of universities and the overwhelming process of comprehending all the financial information – it is unsurprising students begin thinking about university and their pathway options earlier than expected.

We found that engaging potential future students can begin as early as year 10: Our recent survey revealed the majority of students began receiving advice and guidance about university in year 12 (47%), 17% in year 11 and 12% in year 10.

IS THAT EARLY ENOUGH?

Although 67% of these students agreed the year their school introduced university engagement was early enough for them, it’s vital to avoid letting that remaining 33% fall through the cracks.

This group of potential future students crave engagement from universities early-on and will most likely begin researching their pathway options ahead of everyone else. This is a great opportunity for you to establish your brand, create an early relationship and lay the foundations for better connections in the future.

So, ensure your pre-app content plan goes beyond Year 12’s. Adjusting the complexity of your language, creating useful resources for beginners and getting involved in trips to schools or events for school students is an effective place to start building your brand in those all-important early years.

Check out UniTasterDays, a website which promotes your events, workshops and open days to teachers and career advisors looking to connect their students to universities early on.

HOW TO ENGAGE PRE-APP STUDENTS

Our survey revealed pre-app students want to hear more about student life and finance, yet these topics can be easily overlooked at this stage of their journey. We’re sharing a few tips to get potential future applicants engaged and wanting more.

ADDRESS THOSE UNCOMFORTABLE TOPICS

With travel costs, course books, rent and tuition fees, it is unsurprising students worry about money when considering their pathway options.

The lack of clarity about student finance has made young people uneasy about their future financial stability. In our recent survey, we found 60% of respondents strongly disagreed and disagreed universities helped them feel more confident they could afford university life and balance their finances. Additionally, when we asked what information students wanted at school, a number of respondents identified student finance, commenting:

“How to manage finances at university”

“Balancing finances – it’s normally spoken about once you’ve applied and gone to see the universities, but I think it should start earlier”

“More detail on finances, I didn’t know we were charged interest on our loans”

“Graduate prospects and reality of finance on loans less than max with no top up from parents”

Use this knowledge gap as an opportunity to provide useful content that will put their mind at ease. Your help could have a huge impact on their next steps deciding whether university is the right option for them whilst building an emotive connection with students early-on.

Education on your bursaries and scholarships are also a great way of reassuring students about areas financial support. By advertising your bursaries and scholarships, this will provide students with a boost in confidence about their future financial situation and might even inspire students to aim for better results.

TELL YOUR STORY – DON’T SELL IT

Rather than spamming your audience with marketing emails, you should promote your story and share insights which showcase; why you are different from your competitors and what kind of lifestyle your university promises. The more students that can picture life at your university, the more connected your audience will feel with your brand.

We looked into different ways brands can authentically resonate with young people. Check out how to tell your story without pushing your product: what it takes to make your brand resonate with young people.

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

We found 90% of respondents wanted more subject specific information at school, so they can tailor their A-level choices to the degree they’re interested in. These students have identified their passion points and are planning ahead. So, share useful course information, subject requirements and support with pathway planning.

Connect with a young person’s emotions and aspirations and share ways in which universities have helped others achieve their dream career. Go beyond graduate employment and paint the picture of what life after university promises.

Want to find out more ways to increase your open day attendance and engage pre-app students? Check out our latest packages guaranteed to boost your upcoming campaign. 

The post ARE YOU ENGAGING WITH PRE-APP STUDENTS EARLY ENOUGH? appeared first on The Student Room Group.