Recent changes to UK student visa rules have made the idea of studying in Britain less appealing for many international students.
The data supports this - the number of international student visa applications between January and July 2024 was 16% lower than the same period in 2023. These figures are concerning considering the UK hosted record numbers of international students in years previous.
But what can universities do to enhance their international student uptake? We’re sure there are numerous ways, but investing in technical transformation may go a lot further than you might think.
So let’s investigate 9 common, current challenges universities face when it comes to international student recruitment, and how technical and/or data change can help address them.
How Technical Change Can Resolve International Student Recruitment Challenges
Challenge #1: Sudden Stiff Competition Amongst Universities
The sudden drop in international students coming to the UK has created a highly competitive atmosphere amidst British universities. As the pool of international students who are eligible for a UK student visa reduces, universities are increasingly having to elbow each other out of the way to win a reliable share of that lucrative market.
And when market conditions like these change, yesteryear’s sales and marketing strategies will likely need to change too in order to keep up. But technical change can transform much more than a university’s use of social media and digital advertising.
Great marketing requires great understanding of audience data. By collecting and analysing all student lifecycle data through a “single pane of glass” system, you can better understand what brings students your way, what appeals to them, and what helps them achieve success during their time with you. You may even be able to isolate individual benefits that make you a better choice than other institutions.
Technology can also help you provide a great experience during the enquiry, application, and admissions process. For example, AI-powered chatbots can provide a round-the-clock response to common questions about applications, tuition fees, scholarships, agent information, or visa procedures.
Challenge #2: Political Changes & International Turmoil
The recent UK visa changes have hit universities hard. And high levels of current geopolitical turmoil present a good measure of business risk to organisations of all kinds who rely on international operations - universities included.
So, as any good problem solver would ask, what can universities control in this situation?
Again, it all comes down to data. Universities can use current and historical data to understand where their most successful (and indeed most lucrative) international students are coming from. Universities can then start to investigate and understand the social and political landscape within those countries, and potentially adjust their promotional messaging and agent training to further appeal to that audience.
Similarly, if a particular country is impacted by a natural disaster or political development which prevents students from applying, having joined-up agent management and marketing tools can help universities focus on recruitment opportunities elsewhere.
(Side note: In cases of international conflict or disaster, strong student wellbeing tools can help universities support current international students whose families may be affected.)
Challenge #3: Agent Management Chaos
Managing your bank of international student recruitment agents can be hard work. You have to keep on top of contracts, ensure that all agents are following university-approved procedures, provide relevant promotional information, and monitor each agent’s success at finding good-fit students.
For-purpose agent management software helps universities manage their international recruitment agents centrally. It can boost promotional collaboration between universities and their agents; improves universities’ ability to monitor agencies’ throughput; and helps both parties work towards the best possible student outcomes.
Challenge #4: Clunky, Siloed Operational Systems & Data
Poor processes, missing data, and back-office hold ups often ultimately impact students - whether they’re international or domestic. If the admissions process is slow, wellbeing programmes aren’t on the ball, or departments don’t seem to be singing from the same song sheet, this can all contribute to a poor student experience and ultimately a negative public perception of the university.
Effective technical change can help create a central, holistic repository of data and functionality that covers everything relating to the student “lifecycle” - from international marketing, to agent management, admissions, onboarding, student support, through to graduation and alumni life. Processes within this system can be further bolstered with automated actions and workflows.
When all student-facing teams can tap into and use a holistic system like this, it enables seamless interdepartmental collaboration.
Challenge #5: Struggles in Measuring Success
Universities are particularly invested in measuring success. Not just their own success as a business, but the successes of their students too. Transforming a university’s data strategy can help that institution better collect, store, collate, and communicate both business and student data, further serving to measure and maximise success.
Supporting student success can be incredibly nuanced - especially when it comes to supporting international students who may be away from home, alone, for the first time in their lives. It’s also crucial to monitor agents’ productivity and promotional campaigns too, as these ultimately lead to both business and student success.
Rather than focusing on purely academic goals, institutions may also find it useful to focus on data that indicates how international students are engaging with university life (especially in comparison to their domestic counterparts); how and why international students drop out of the application process; agent success and throughput; as well as overall student satisfaction, retention, and employability.
Centralised, cohesive data systems and reporting can help institutions uncover a surprising amount of insight.
Challenge #6: Shrinking Budgets
Investing in digital transformation can help you waste less time, money, and effort. The whole process puts all of your workflows under a microscope to uncover where they can be streamlined, rationalised, and in some cases even partially or fully automated.
This fresh re-examination of your essential business processes helps you to build more value into each workflow; harness more automation and AI-driven functionality; and frees up your teams from tedious, repetitive tasks - in turn letting them focus on adding their real human value to the organisation.
Challenge #7: Application & Admissions Complexity
Applying for university and obtaining a visa can feel daunting enough - without having to battle through a slow, inefficient admissions process too. And let’s be honest, the application process often sets the tone for the student experience that an individual is going to receive for the next 3 to 5 years! The right technology can make the whole process as frictionless as possible for applicants, agents, and admissions teams.
We see many universities implementing totally digitised applications portals which can be rendered in any language and feed directly to their admissions team’s workflow. That workflow, of course, can be further augmented and streamlined using automation, providing an efficient, speedy response to all applications.
Additionally, solutions developed using flexible tools like Power Platform can be programmed to automate chasing for important missing information, reducing the chances that potential students will “fall through the cracks.”
When systems like these are fully digitised, it becomes easier to fully interrogate the whole enquiry, application, and admissions process, allowing universities to identify and remedy possible weak points.
Challenge #8: Identifying and Mitigating Risk
When it comes to international student recruitment, application and agent fraud present significant risks - though data privacy is a constant cause for concern too.
But when armed with streamlined, for-purpose admissions software, admissions teams can automate some of the more menial parts of their work. This gives them the energy and headspace to adequately interrogate each application for common signs of fraud. This might include spotting inconsistent details on official documents, identifying fake transcripts, or interrogating fraudulent financial paperwork.
Agent fraud is also a worry for many universities. Yet agent management software provides essential visibility into every agent and their applicant throughput - in turn allowing you to flag problematic agents for review or termination.
Technical transformation can also help minimise data risk. All too often, universities hold personal student and applicant data within insecure spreadsheets, documents, and software. However, a centralised, cohesive, and adequately secured data source presents a much lower data breach risk.
Challenge #9: Leaving Opportunities on the Table
No business wants to leave money on the table. But by maintaining up-to-the-minute data about prospective students, current students, agents, and the wider market, you can establish where demand is surging and where it’s waning so you can make the most of those situations.
The right data, presented within digestible dashboards and reports, can truly act as a barometer for understanding current trends, the health of the sector, and your place within it. It can also act as a periscope to help you identify opportunities or hazards on the horizon, allowing you to put measures in place well ahead of time.
“When universities win, everyone wins.”
Our Chief Data Officer Ian Bobbett made a great point during a recent episode of our Digital Lounge podcast (which is essential listening/watching by the way):
“Having [a] helicopter view across the entire student lifecycle is really important, because it’s win-win-win. The students win, the agents win, the university wins, and ultimately the economy wins.”
So, if you’re looking to create your own win-win-win by bolstering your international student recruitment efforts, get in touch with the digital transformation experts at Crimson.
As part of our International Student Recruitment Strategy Review, our data and digital transformation specialists will explore with you how to optimise applicant journeys, marketing processes, and regulatory compliance so you can fully capitalise on the international student market.
To be clear, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution - we mould our advice around your existing ways of working. And what’s more, it’s available for a surprisingly modest investment of time and money.
But if that’s not to your liking, we have a variety of solutions and consultative offerings designed to maximise technical and data efficiency in all areas of higher education.
However, and wherever you’re looking to explore digital change within your institution, book a free, no-commitment call with our techie change-makers.
