Over the last year, we launched our revamped undergraduate and postgraduate degree finders, complete with a host of new, user-friendly features in the content management system (CMS) for editors and administrators to utilise in the backend. One of these features is a built-in comments function, which allows users to interact with one another by leaving […]

The Prospective Student Web Team are delivering all the sessions in this month’s Marcomms Forum. Join us to learn about usability testing the new postgraduate degree finder, editorial advice to improve postgraduate degree profiles, and how to use our student journey maps.

We recently reviewed the new postgraduate study website with 17 students, using a summative usability testing approach to produce a performance scorecard. While there were aspects of the site that performed well, we identified areas that need further improvement.

Our students are increasingly reliant on paid work to help fund their studies. It’s no surprise then that prospective students are keen to understand their study commitments so they can gauge their likely capacity for paid work while at university. School editors can meet this need in the Degree Finder.

Following the launch of the Undergraduate Study website and Degree Finder in March, we’ve released 11 updates that have steadily improved editorial workflows, collaboration and performance. Alongside usability and design refinements, these enhancements have made the service more efficient for editors and more effective for prospective students.

The Postgraduate Entry 2026 website that launched on 7 October introduced new approaches to how we present degree programmes. Contributions from colleagues in schools, colleges and support units have been critical to our transformation of online provision.

Back in the summer, I surveyed the student recruitment and marketing community about the website and digital service improvements that would have greatest value for their work. The results of this survey have helped our steering group set priorities for the coming year.

In 2021 I created a diagram of the people, processes and systems surrounding the Degree Finders to help inform our technical planning and communication to stakeholders. I’ve just updated the diagram for 2025 to reflect our new service. Comparing old with new really highlights how much our technology landscape has evolved and simplified.

Our work this year to deliver a new website for prospective students has reduced the number of pages we publish by over 50%. This is better for the student experience, better for the environment and better for our content management overhead.

As I mark nearly one year with the Prospective Student Web team, I’m excited to reflect on my experience as a Web Content Support Assistant, imparting some of my highlights and key learnings from the last 10 months.