Gower College SwanseaSouth Wales, UK

Marketing and recruitment for further education in

challenging environments

ChallengesChallenges are many and ever-changing but fall roughly into two categories:• Internal• External

Its a steep learning curve!!

Internal

• Risk averse v demanding targets• Unrealistic expectations• Seen purely as cash cows• Resistance from teaching staff• ....

Risk-Averse

• Not to be underestimated!- Safety of staff and students

Staff travelling alone in ‘risky’ countries

Under 18s duty of careTerrorism

- FinancialInvesting money with noguarantee of return

Unrealistic Expectations

• Will immediately get a full class of 15 students for a new course• Developing collaborative partnerships will reap immediate rewards• All Leads, EOIs and tenders will turn into hard cash

Resistance from teaching staff• See international students as an extra burden• Assumption that poor English is the cause of any work problems• Make extra demands on their time and will adversely affect the rest of the class• Concern that their results may not be as good and will affect rankings•Not taking responsibility for international students

External

• What is an FE College???• Visa requirements – ever changing!• Agents• Competition• HTS and UKBA• ....

What is an FE College???

All things to all people

• Most people outside the UK do not know what a Further Education College is – and that includes the British Council!!• No single definition of an FE College• Every one is different

Visa Requirements

• Guidance not regulations• Subject to interpretation• … but in many instances cannot be challenged• Credibility interviews – whose credibility???•Losing out to countries with easier visa requirements•The 3 year rule

Agents• A Godsend or a necessary evil?• Who can you trust?• How do you know a good agent when you meet one?• Are they working in your and the students best interest?• Competition – they are not just working for you!

Competition

• We are competing with Boarding Schools at one end and universities at the other• New countries competing with ‘better’ offers – Norway, Germany, Netherlands etc.• Are we too expensive – or too cheap??• Growth of in-country campuses

HTS and Visa and Immigration Service

• FE Colleges are adversely affected by visa refusals, withdrawals etc.• FE Colleges don’t have the clout that Universities have• Don’t usually have the resources to access Premium Service or expensive legal advice• The 10 hours work rule

What can we do?

• Are there factors we cannot change?• How do we work round them?• How can we mitigate the challenges both internally and externally?•

How do we best market ourselves overseas?

• Decide on your target markets• Limit the offer – focus your offer to meet the skills needs of each country• Promote your USPs• Keep it simple!

VisasEnsuring that the students you recruit have the

best chance of getting their visa applications approved

- Be selective on who you recruit – quality not quantity

- Beware applicants who aren’t absolutely clear about what they want to study and why they want to do it

- Keep up regular communication with applicants, don’t over-rely on Agents

- Help them prepare for credibility interviews

Working with Agents• A Godsend or a necessary evil?

Probably both! But you will find it harder to recruit without them

• Who can you trust?You can only really know once you are working regularly withthem- use British Council Agent lists – BC does not specificallyrecommend any Agents but at least you know they have probably had some training and aren’t crooks!- ask around, find out if anyone has had or knows of any badexperiences with an Agent

Working with Agents (2)• How do you know a good agent when you meet one?

Very difficult but trust your instinct- an Agent who tells you they should be able to get you one or two students to start with is more likely to be selecting appropriate students than one that promises to send you 100sof students- have they taken time to find out about your institution?

• Are they working in yours and the students best interest?Are they taking money off the students as well as takingcommission from you?Are they pushing students towards the college that pays the highestcommission or the one that best suits the student?

Working with Agents (3)• Competition – they are not just working for you! How do you make sure that your college is the one they think of first:

- keep regular communication with them. Ring and chat as wellas just sending emails- Send them news items about the college and tell them how their students are doing.- Make sure they have plenty of your marketing materials andupdate them with new courses etc.- visit as often as you can and take them out to dinner

And don’t be afraid to drop any Agent that you are not happy with

Competition• We are competing with Boarding Schools at one end and universities at the other

- but remember a good FE college can match them on quality and beat them on price- promote any outstanding features that will appeal to parents: exam results, subject choice, Oxbridge successes, student support, homestay

• New countries competing with ‘better’ offers – Norway, Germany, Netherlands etc.- hard one this but the UK is still the country of choice for very many students. Scholarships? English Language in the community as well as at college? Cost of living?

• Are we too expensive – or too cheap??- we can be seen as too cheap so must be lower quality- cannot compete on price with countries such as Malaysia, Singapore but would they get the same quality experience?

• Growth of in-country campuses

Thank you

...and Good Luck!