We know that not much about the clearing process is black and white right now, but we do know that one of the best ways to prepare for the unknown is to talk about it! We’ve listed some discussion points that we will be covering with our clients at this time and if you are a university marketer, you should be asking these questions too:

Pre-clearing

What is your institution’s pre-clearing offer, and should it be amended in line with new circumstances? E.g. offers reliant on call-backs may need to be reconsidered.

UCAS have announced that the upcoming May undergraduate offer deadlines for universities and students has been extended by 2 weeks. How will this affect our current plans?

In the event of a staggered results process, how is this likely to be carried out? How will this change your marketing activity?

Results day

In the event of an earlier results day in July, will this be fully digitised, or will the results be received in the post or at school with social distancing measures in place?

Does your institution have methods in place to offer places other than via phone calls e.g. live chat, chatbot, online forms? Will there be the same capacity to take phone enquiries remotely without a call centre?

Should your results day channel mix be focussed on Google? Other core channels should be considered. Google CPC has increased in the HE sector, while social media use has increased dramatically over the last few weeks.

Post-clearing

Are students who have applied to your institution likely to choose to take their exams in the Autumn?

Are students who have applied to your institution likely to choose to repeat the year?

Overall

How can we be creative with our strategy in this new landscape to stand out from our competition? A new clearing process is a new opportunity to create cut-through for your institution. This is your chance to create a fresh and unique position for yourself in the marketplace.

This list will be updated in future posts with suggested approaches and more discussion points as information becomes available over the coming weeks.

We’d love to hear the discussions you are having across the sector. What questions have you been asking about the 2020 clearing process?

Caroline Canty, Campaigns Manager