We’ve been working with Chevening for over five years, Marshall Scholarships for three years, and with UCAS for 14 years – we are immensely proud of these partnerships and look forward to many more years of collaborating with these partners.
Chevening, Marshall and UCAS have all been amazing to work with throughout our long partnerships with them, and we have continued to be impressed with their professionalism and coping strategies throughout the current crisis. We asked our partners to provide us with an update on how things stand to give us all a more in-depth insight into what’s happening in the postgraduate recruitment marketplace as a result of Covid-19.
Chevening reports record numbers of applicants: In 2020 Chevening Scholarship applications opened one month later than usual due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. But despite this giving potential Chevening Scholars less time to get their applications in with just a two-month application window, our partner has reported a record number of applicants and web traffic. Annie Bell, Communications Manager at Chevening, explains the latest statistics, “When we compare the figures for September-October 2019 with the same period in 2020, we have seen a 299% increase in users and a 48% increase in page views.” When it comes to the course search page – which is powered by Postgrad.com – Annie reports, “We saw an amazing 40% increase in page views (with 810,782 views) since the same period last year.”
Marshall partnership goes from strength to strength: We have been working with Marshall Scholarships in the US market since 2017, providing them with an iFrame in a similar way to our partnership with Chevening. It is a pleasure working with Marshall and we hope to collaborate more with them in the future. Mary Denyer, Head of Scholarships at Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, reported to us that despite the Coronavirus Pandemic, Marshall Scholarship applications opened as usual this year and saw an increase of 19% in overall applications; this is the highest number of applications received in recent years. She also highlighted that over the summer Marshall held a UK University tour for US advisors, and throughout this tour the iFrame was promoted as a key way of exploring courses available in the UK, not just for Marshall Scholarships but any US students considering studying in the UK. Mary explains, “The iFrame course finder is an important part of work in promoting British Higher Education in the UK. The course finder is not only for students looking to apply for Marshall Scholarships but fellowship advisors in the US recommend it for any student looking to study in the UK.”
UCAS offers students flexible support: Our postgraduate course database has been managed by market-leading PG data providers UCAS for more than 14 years. This means that our clients get the benefit of UCAS’s high tech customer friendly Data Collection Tool and support team, and our student users have access to great course data. We have been continuously impressed with UCAS’s dedication to helping each HEI make their data provision process run as smoothly as possible – not to mention their excellent customer support systems – and we are delighted to maintain this relationship. We asked Tuely Robins, Principal Insight Consultant at UCAS, how the last six months during the Covid-19 pandemic have been for UCAS from a PG perspective.
Throughout 2020 UCAS has been working hard in the PG field, despite the huge demands on them linked to UG applications over the summer after exams were cancelled. Tuely highlights that they had seen a significant increase in engagement from more mature students from May 2020 onwards during this economic uncertainty, with students interested in PG study both on their website and through social media, especially within the UK. Tuely explains, “These are potential students who are seeking solace in higher education and are preparing themselves for a new, elevated or expanding remit in the future when this crisis is over. Flexing our support for all students whether undergraduate or postgraduate has been absolutely critical over the last few months in ensuring a smooth transition for all potential learners from what they are doing now to achieving their ambitions. For our postgraduates particularly this has meant offering much greater focus on application support.” Tuely continues, “Knowing that Postgrad Solutions is publishing our PG data on their websites is a critical part of us ensuring that as many students as possible access the widest UK course data possible to help them in their decision making. The team at Postgrad Solutions is great to work with! Being able to have such a transparent working relationship has really enabled all of us to see how our services in this space can continue to best support our end-users.”