Attracting International Students after Brexit

It’s likely your university has already thought thoroughly about what it means for your campus’ future regarding EU students after the UK leaves the EU.

International students are the high value customers of the education industry. Therefore just because the UK will be taking control of its own laws, it doesn’t mean that the country is going to suddenly stop EU students from studying with the UK, as this would adversely affect the country’s standing against worldwide rankings.

How Will EU Students Be Affected?

For EU students currently studying within the UK, fees and financial aid will remain the same as before the Brexit vote; it is not yet certain whether there will be any changes in the 2020/21 academic year.

In the longer term, it seems likely that EU students will have to pay the higher fee rates that currently apply to those from outside of the EU. However, those looking on the brighter side have pointed out that if the pound’s fall in value is sustained, this will make studying in the UK more affordable for all international students.

With immigration controls being such a central part of the Brexit debate, it is likely that new regulations will be introduced. If the UK withdraws from existing agreements on freedom of movement, future EU students may need to apply for a visa in order to study in the UK. There are 2 types:

• Tier 4 Student Visa – dependant on the course the student is doing and what studies they have already completed
• Short-term Study Visa – 6-11 months duration depending on when the student applies for the visa.

Conveying This Information to Potential EU Students

At least half of the UK population probably doesn’t fully understand the impact that Brexit will have on the country and regulations, therefore how can we expect young adults who don’t live in the country to completely understand what they need to do, when they are busy trying to navigate decisions that will affect their future?

Your university can help inform EU students of these changes, by easily directing them on your website. The Click4Assistance solution contains Promotions which are an image that appear on your website after a certain amount of time and/or when a visitor browses a certain page. The Promotion can be tailored to any message, displaying anything from the latest offer to important information. A web link can be assigned to the image, therefore when clicked the visitor will be automatically navigated to the related page.

You could tailor a promotion aimed at EU/international students and guide them to further information regarding how Brexit will affect them and what visa they will need to apply for and how.

Live chat can be used to answer any questions that potential students have regarding Brexit and their study options. The communication channel allows to student to speak with an advisor in a one-to-one environment.

For students who are not in the UK currently, Click2Call is another communication channel that can aid them with getting one-to-one help. The functionality enables the student to enter their phone number on your website; the request will be seen by your agents who they will instantly be connected to when the advisor accepts the call request. There is no charge to the visitor as the call takes place over the normal phone network. Your university will attract call charges at a lower rate.

Alternatively, to save resources, your university could hold a Brexit information session by using Meeting Rooms. This allows multiple participants to enter discussions regardless of where they are located. Therefore this provides a perfect opportunity for your advisors to present the relevant information to potential students residing anywhere in the world.

Each channel is easy to implement on your site. A small piece of html script just needs to be added to your website. Within the solution you can control the look of each tool with what windows are shown. You can configure the settings to determine which agents the communication is routed to, or where information is sent should the channel be offline etc.

Make the Future Possible

Improving the information your university is providing to future students and conveying it in ways that are convenient and tailored to those students can be the difference from them choosing another university to study at.

Brexit is going to shake up the way that EU students apply for university ensure they don’t turn down your offering just because of the changes.

Click4Assistance has been supplying live chat for over 15 years and is the UK’s premier provider. Working with 25% of the country’s universities, we want to ensure that they are able to continue offering the great opportunities to students regardless of what happens with Brexit. To find out more about our communication channels contact our team on 01268 524628 or email theteam@click4assistance.co.uk.