In 2015 record numbers of people applied for university via clearing after receiving their A-Level results. Over half a million individuals secured a place in a UK higher education university. But with over 2,000,000 offers being made and more students than ever being placed within their first choice, it is clear that Clearing is more competitive than ever for UK universities.
Neil Walsh, Director at Crunch Simply Digital, said “Clearing 2016 is predicted to be bigger than ever and our research and expertise will help you to maximise student applications around A-Level results day.”
Walsh continued “More than ever before, students going through Clearing in 2015 had an agenda and took time to consider. Rather than hastily accept offers, students took time to research, review and consider applications.”
Plethora of devices
With online users constantly on a plethora of devices, it’s important to understand how behaviours differ between different device users.
Walsh explains “It’s key to understand the benefit of separating campaigns out into device specific sub-campaigns. It enables digital campaigns to have the ability to optimise and tailor campaigns to work particularly well with particular devices.”
The Crunch study points out that the average university missed out on over 50% of opportunities. Indicating it is vital that universities are engaging with audiences throughout A-level results day and provide clear, informative content on landing pages.
Walsh continued “Our study shows that with a focus on desktops, it’s no surprise that this is where the majority of clicks were generated. But, users were most likely to click through on a mobile device and this will be further exaggerated in 2016.”
Adjustment
The flipside of Clearing is incorporating Adjustment into the A-level Results Day strategy.
Walsh concluded “Last year Crunch saw an increased strategic approach amongst universities to the Adjustment process. A growing number of students are gaining better than expected results, therefore qualifying for Adjustment.”
Universities should increase their focus on attracting students who are going through the clearing process, but not forget about those applying Adjustment.
