Starting university life is challenging at the best of times. From meeting new people, to moving away from home (likely for the first time), and discovering a new way of learning… it’s not unusual for students to feel apprehensive about what lies ahead. Throw Covid-19 into that mix and the new challenge becomes even more overwhelming. With so much uncertainty and lack of clarity on what the future holds, there has never been a more important time for universities to provide a robust student support and welfare service, especially to those first year students who will be joining the university in the near future.

With the latest update stating colleges will begin to reopen to provide face-to-face contact from June 15^th for some students, to help them prepare for exams next year, it is now obvious that for most students, the rest of the academic year will need to be studied at home.

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘Data is King’. Having data at your fingertips provides valuable insights on how well your institution’s student recruitment activity is performing against your desired targets. Being able to quickly analyse and visualise that data is key; no one has the time in their day to spend hours manipulating it just to extract the information they need. The demanding nature of our roles within institutions require the need for tools which do it for us, at a simple click of a button.   

Like many organisations, the rapidly evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the change in people’s working habits, locations and timings has presented a unique challenge to Tribal’s Professional Services team.

Competition to recruit a student  is fierce at the best of times as universities strive to hit their increasingly ambitious student recruitment targets. But in the current climate – with the pool of would-be undergraduate students predicted to be smaller due to the coronavirus pandemic – focusing on the most effective ways to drive applicants and convert them to enrolment is crucial.

There are so many compelling reasons that providers are turning to an online enrolment process. From delivering a more seamless experience for learners, to improving the quality of your data and even giving you a better oversight of recruitment flows. The current situation, as providers scramble to deliver educational outputs against the challenge of a global pandemic, has only served to make paperless enrolment more compelling.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented disruption to the academic calendar. Having faced the initial hurdles, universities across the globe are considering what the current situation means for recruitment and admissions over the summer and beyond.

The corona virus is having a huge impact on Higher Education, as well as economies and lives across the globe. Universities have closed, teaching has moved online, and face to face events have been called off. March is normally one of the busiest months in the academic calendar with bulging lecture theatres and buzzing cafes. Now the libraries stand empty, offices locked up.

Over the years, staff at Tribal have delivered countless online training sessions, live broadcast webinars and virtual demos. So, we've pooled our advice together on how to make virtual lessons a little bit easier.

The funding crisis within the UK education sector has led to curriculums being cut back, staff recruitment and retention suffering and teachers reporting of working on average 50-70 hours per week in order to plug the gap.