Unsuccessful - what me? A summary of feedback on - UCAS

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10 UCAS CARD IS BACK FOR 2009 From October 2009, UCAS Card will be back for Year 12, S5 and equivalent students The UCAS Card sche<strong>me</strong> is more than just a card; it’s the start <strong>of</strong> the UCAS journey. When students register they gain secure access to a whole host <strong>of</strong> information about courses, life in higher education, the application process and, <strong>of</strong> course, the free discount card that can be used in the high street. What are the benefits? As well as the discount card students receive advice to help with the application process, guiding them from start to finish. Students are sent tailored information on courses and institutions depending on the preferences they make in the UCAS Card registration. They aren’t bound by their details given at registration either; they can change their criteria at any point <strong>me</strong>aning the tailored information sent to them also adapts. UCAS card <strong>me</strong>mbers will also receive monthly email bulletins, copies <strong>of</strong> You Can magazine and access to youg<strong>of</strong>urther, the UCAS student network. The email bulletins are full <strong>of</strong> advice, including reminders on key UCAS deadlines. You Can is a magazine about life in higher education, written in conjunction with The Independent. On youg<strong>of</strong>urther students can get more in-depth knowledge about universities through their pr<strong>of</strong>ile pages; they can talk to UCAS advisers online as well as to their peers. UCAS Card operates securely in the main UCAS site. This <strong>me</strong>ans that there are no security or access issues for schools and colleges. It’s a secure, <strong>of</strong>ficial route to useful, relevant information. UCAS news How do students register? To register students simply need to go to www.ucas.com/ucascard. How do advisers know who has registered? All schools and colleges in the UK will receive information and posters from UCAS Card shortly. When students register they simply tell us <strong>what</strong> school they are at using a drop down <strong>me</strong>nu. Develop<strong>me</strong>nts are being worked on to allow you as school advisers to use the adviser section <strong>of</strong> Apply to find out who at your school has registered for a UCAS Card. This will allow you to speak to students who haven’t yet signed up and encourage them to do so, so that they can make the most <strong>of</strong> the benefits. It also acts as a security <strong>me</strong>asure to make sure we don’t have people registering who are not students. We will keep you posted on develop<strong>me</strong>nts. News in brief What happened on A level results day at UCAS? ■ We answered 14,098 calls ■ They were answered, on average, within 64 seconds ■ Over 1 million searches were made for Clearing vacancies on the UCAS website ■ Track - the service that applicants use to check their status - had received 970,578 logins by 4pm, peaking at 118 logins per second But in the midst <strong>of</strong> all this activity we were still able to recall so<strong>me</strong> <strong>me</strong>morable mo<strong>me</strong>nts ... ■ An applicant called in to find out how to correct the spelling <strong>of</strong> her na<strong>me</strong> in her application. We told her <strong>what</strong> she needed to do. Before finishing the call she said, “I’ve been spelling it this way since primary school, and only just recently looked at my passport and realised it was wrong.” ■ An 80 year old applicant will be starting a course in A<strong>me</strong>rican Studies – so it’s never too late.
UCAS HAS STARTED TWEETING … UCAS has joined the twitterati with its own account on the social networking site Twitter Everyone seems to be tweeting these days, from Barack Obama to Stephen Fry. We asked UCAS website editor Beth Hayes and yougo.co.uk editor Murry Toms why UCAS joined them. Beth Hayes edits the UCAS website. ‘Our Twitter account went live in June. We didn’t know how popular it was going to be, but we attracted more than a thousand followers in the first month, which was great. ‘Twitter’s given us a chance to show the personality <strong>of</strong> UCAS a bit more. I think it’s enhanced our reputation because we can show our applicants that we’re listening to them and trying to take the initiative and respond to their concerns. We’ve had so<strong>me</strong> really good com<strong>me</strong>nts. We put out so<strong>me</strong> information on Twitter the other week and got a <strong>me</strong>ssage back saying, “Thanks guys, you’ve just saved <strong>me</strong> a phone call.” ‘In September, when the next application cycle starts, we’ll be able to use Twitter to help guide students through the six steps <strong>of</strong> the application process at relevant ti<strong>me</strong>s <strong>of</strong> the year. ‘There’s a real appetite for this sort <strong>of</strong> communication. We can give out advice very quickly this way. For instance, our Custo<strong>me</strong>r Service Unit told <strong>me</strong> they were having a lot <strong>of</strong> queries from students about their UCAS number - they weren’t sure which number was which. We put out a <strong>me</strong>ssage on Twitter explaining that it was their Personal ID number and told them where to find it. This is <strong>what</strong> makes Twitter so useful to us – we can be proactive and reactive. We’re giving our audiences the information they need without relying on them to search for it themselves. ‘Using Twitter’s beco<strong>me</strong> second nature – if I put so<strong>me</strong>thing on the website, it will go on Twitter as well. It’s so quick. You’re only allowed 140 characters but that can be good because you have to be succinct and it concentrates your <strong>me</strong>ssage. ‘A lot <strong>of</strong> people are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon but we put <strong>of</strong>f setting up an account until we had thought it through carefully and worked out a suitable approach. We aren’t using it as a promotional tool. We’re using it as an You have to be succinct and it concentrates your <strong>me</strong>ssage information tool to help applicants. It’s really for their benefit, not ours.’ Murry Toms is the editor <strong>of</strong> yougo.co.uk, the student-only networking website. It’s owned by UCAS and is ai<strong>me</strong>d at young people about to enter higher education or who’ve already started college or university. Yougo gives students information and the chance to compare notes and share experiences with others in the sa<strong>me</strong> situation. ‘The first thing I do when I get into work in the morning is check the yougo website and see <strong>what</strong>’s going on. I see <strong>what</strong> students are talking about in the online discussions and put so<strong>me</strong>thing on Twitter. It gives us a chance to be proactive and stimulate debate. For example, there’s been a big discussion about student loans and fees and we can point people in the right direction for help and information. ‘The yougo website is a live environ<strong>me</strong>nt and that suits Twitter. It’s the im<strong>me</strong>diacy that’s so important. It’s real-ti<strong>me</strong> communication. That’s exactly <strong>what</strong> we are doing when we talk to students in our online forums and put them in touch with each other. It makes all the difference if you can react to so<strong>me</strong>thing that’s going on straight away. ‘From our tweets, you can see at a glance how diverse our website is. We have lots <strong>of</strong> different students - applicants, undergraduates, mature students, part-ti<strong>me</strong>rs, international students. If people read our posts and get involved in our forums and online debates, that’s just <strong>what</strong> we want. It’s <strong>what</strong> users want too. ‘People online are very wary <strong>of</strong> the “dancing dad syndro<strong>me</strong>” where organisations try to be so<strong>me</strong>thing they’re not. You’ve got be honest about who you are. We see yougo as a genuine support service. It’s about substance over style. ‘We’ve now got a dedicated UCAS Custo<strong>me</strong>r Service Unit adviser who takes care <strong>of</strong> student enquiries on all the social networking sites like Facebook, Bebo and Twitter. Twitter’s not a standalone thing, it’s part <strong>of</strong> an integrated approach to our communications as a whole. ‘The student generation is the influential, early adopters <strong>of</strong> social <strong>me</strong>dia and it has beco<strong>me</strong> second nature to communicate through these channels. Attitudes to social <strong>me</strong>dia have changed a lot in the last two years. You can sense the change with each year that goes past – we’re breaking down the barriers all the ti<strong>me</strong>.’
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Page 3 and 4: FAREWELL TO UCAS Anthony McClaran l
Page 5 and 6: IN SEARCH OF A CHIEF EXECUTIVE Pr<s
Page 7 and 8: FROM CARE TO UNIVERSITY ... The Fra
Page 9: Improving feedback
Page 13 and 14: Applicants’ data on the way to th
Page 15 and 16: DEADLINES ON THE HORIZON 2009 entry

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