Pre-university admin tasks should be completed online – poll results

I find it very hard to believe that 14 years on from when I went through the A-Level/Uni student application process, basic activities in the whole system are still not available online.

Just take a look at today’s typical student:

• most will be on online via PC and mobile applications
• most will be regularly interacting with websites, not to mention constant attachment to their social media pages

So I wasn’t really surprised that in our recent poll students would like to be able to do more of their university activities online.  Just imagine selecting your future flatmates online or knowing what modules you’re taking so you can get your parents to buy all the books before you go!  See below for results:

• Applying for student loan – 23%
• Applying for clearing places – 8%
• Applying for accommodation – 12%
• Meeting fellow students – 13%
• Choosing course units – 24%
• Applying for student bank account – 3%
• Other – 7%
• None, it should all be offline – 9%

Just think how efficient the whole system would be if students could start the process prior to the start date?  But perhaps that’s the real reason that activities remain offline.

The less easy it is to navigate the process, the less likely you are to apply and the less likely to go.  Yes, this is the perfect solution to current shortage of places… make the whole process difficult!

Photo credit: nics_events via Flickr/Creative Commons