Edified and UniQuest’s mystery-shopping study into student enquiry experiences at 102 institutions around the world reveals UK and Australia now top the improvements list, as reported by Castanet, BC. Improvements were found across all regions, but graduates of the international student “mystery shoppers” assessed responsiveness, relevance, and personalization in the UK and Australia over 2024.
Satisfaction rate, which had stalled for the past couple of years, jumped sharply in this year, with most of the gains coming from the UK and Australia. Australian institutions 18% improved their overall score, while UK institutions improved by 15%. The University of Edinburgh stood out as the improved institution, having experienced a 50% rise in satisfaction since 2022. Edinburgh’s success was attributed to collaborative efforts across various teams, including admissions and student ambassadors, as noted by Katrina Castle, deputy director of admissions at the university.
Australia tops the global order this year, as 86% of its institutions are found to have outscores above the global average, up considerably from last year at 67%. The surge in satisfaction can also be attributed to improvements in responsiveness. For example, 90% of the enquiries both in the UK and Australia are answered, against what was put at 80% during 2023. This suggests renewed attention to the efficient management of enquiry pipelines.
Australasian institutions are also valued for sending the most relevant and compelling messages, as half of communications from them carried content that attracted students, compared with one in six from European institutions.
Elissa Newall of Edified noted that in challenging times, it remains the recruitment advantage in making potential students feel appreciated. Jennifer Parsons of UniQuest added that it is through continued interaction with which to help deal with concerns on the part of students about new immigration policy and its addition to uncertainty among international applicants.
