What’s new with UCAS?

Alan Jones, Professional Development Executive

What we will cover today

• Adviser experience team

• Some other recent changes

• Changing now or soon

• Looking further ahead

• Adviser resources

• Q&A (time permitting)

A new UCAS team to support all advisers worldwide.

• Louise Evans, Head of Adviser Experience (l.evans@ucas.ac.uk)

• Callie Hawkins, Adviser Experience Manager (c.hawkins@ucas.ac.uk)

Accountable for driving continuous improvement

in the customer experience for advisers.

Mapping advisers’ journeys through UCAS systems

and processes to identify problems, and get them

fixed. Ensuring that adviser insight shapes service developments and improvements.

Adviser Experience Team

• We want Apply to be available earlier - Apply for applicants was made available on 26 May.

• We want access to Apply for advisers before applicants to get ourselves set up and ready - Apply for advisers was made available on 19 May.

• Applicants need more time to research their options in Clearing - Clearing vacancy search will be available to applicants from 6 July.

You asked, we listened…

Resources for advisers, teachers and agents this year

• Resource lists for UK and international advisers

• The UCAS widget

• Translated guides in key languages

• Blog for advisers – Feature in Focus

• Reference writing video – hints and tips from university staff

• More accessible newsletter design

• Your first port of call - www.ucas.com/advisers

UCAS widget

What is it?

• The UCAS widget has been designed to be hosted on any website or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), to link your students and their parents to important information about UK higher education and the UCAS application process.

• The widget takes the user through to an easy to use menu of information and advice to help applicants and their parents. The content will be reviewed regularly by UCAS so it remains up-to-date and relevant.

UCAS widget

• The widget can be accessed from ucas.com and uploaded to any website using simple coding.

• The example of the widget in situ is from Chosen Hill School Sixth Form in Gloucester, who helped UCAS test the tool.

• 50,000 users worldwide so far.

Helping advisers to help parents

Our 2014 parent satisfaction survey told us that:

• parents want information on the UCAS process earlier to be able to support their children when they need it

• the topics that interest them most are the application process, open days, and student finance

• ucas.com and guides for parents are helpful – but parents struggle to filter all the information to find the answers they need

New videos for parents this year

UCAS has developed three very accessible 90 second videos on hot topics for parents:

• The UCAS process

• Open days

• Student finance

Three more videos will be launched in July.

Go to www.ucas.com/parents to view and share.

• Identity – a dashboard that will enable advisers and parents to personalise and improve their experience on ucas.com.

• Digital Learning Platform – launching in September, all advisers worldwide will be able to access online learning modules on the UCAS process and systems.

Launching in 2015/16

Other recent changes

• UCAS website

• UCAS Progress (Post 16 search and apply)

• A European provider on-boarded

Offering UK Bachelors degrees (delivered in English) andvalidated by Bucks New University

Browsealoud accessibility software soon available on UCAS.com

Browsealoud enables users of the website to have the text read to them.

It can also summarise and translate into many languages.

UCAS Progress

• Search and Apply function for Year 10 and 11 students

• Current national roll-out project underway

• With all young people under 18 in England now required to stay in education or work-based learning, UCAS Progress offers an important source of IAG

At the heart of connecting people to higher education

Career Quizzes

At the heart of connecting people to higher education

The Buzz quiz

At the heart of connecting people to higher education