Newsletter #193: More students say higher education is value for money; The problem with students basing decisions on employability; Over a third of the public doesn’t rate HE outcomes
✏️ From the Education Marketer desk
The problem with students basing decisions on employability. Read
More students say higher education is value for money. Read
Over a third of the public doesn’t rate the outcomes of degrees. Read
📰 HE news
Pop quiz: A third of the public says that HE isn’t worth the money. What do students say? Well, according to HEPI and Advance HE’s Student Academic Experience Survey 2026, 45% say the value for money of their present course is “good / very good” (an 8-percentage-point increase since last year). How is this possible in a fire pit of negative press? Put simply, it’s because students’ material experience has improved. Current undergrads experienced little disruption from the pandemic while at university. Universities have made more allowances for students to take on part-time work. Fewer students have experienced staff strike action this year. Of course, sentiment can change, and we’ll see what happens when students are asked about their outcomes in the next 24 months. But that shouldn’t detract from students rating their experience at the highest value in over a decade. Now, let’s see if it’s picked up by the Telegraph. Read
📊 Marketing and media news
So, one of the most unpopular UK governments in history decided to ban social media for under-16s, no doubt doing wonders for Labour’s youth vote in 2029. But in the meantime, does this actually change anything for brands engaging with young people? Not really, if the results of last year’s youth social media ban in Australia are anything to go by. Three months into the policy, around 70% of under-16s were still accessing “banned” platforms. Also, university marketing is overwhelmingly targeted at those aged between 16 and 18. Anything that happens before is handled via partnerships, engagement in schools and events. For a pre-16 audience, social media influence (via universities) is minimal. However, note that gaming channels are exempt from the ban. If you want to target younger audiences in a digital space, Roblox has you covered, with at least 50% of users aged under 16. The audience spends more time there than on any social media app too. Read
There’s a new AI search hack for rankings. On e-commerce platform Shopify’s blog, there are at least 60 different ranked listicles where it, surprise, takes the top spot. While there’s nothing new about brands believing their own hype, what is new is how that content is being discovered. What’s greeted with scepticism from a human is citation fuel for an LLM. A quick search for the “best way to set up an online storefront” yields multiple citations (from Shopify) and has Shopify appear in AI answers more often than not. The same applies to university rankings and accolades. Research from Iff Digital revealed that Russell Group universities are already privileged by AI search. Throw in those institutions being (consistently) highly ranked across multiple tables, and the gap between elite and mid-tier institutions in AI search only widens, despite rankings becoming significantly less influential. Manage your expectations. This isn’t a level playing field. Read
🏫 What unis are doing
The Open University gave a report, published over a year ago, a new lease of life using a LinkedIn campaign. Its report on “skills gaps in the public sector” is currently at 135 reposts, which is good news for a university ideally positioned to… plug skills gaps in the public sector. Look
University of Leicester is following the journey of six students throughout their degree. Named “citizens in the making” (a play on its citizens of change campaign), we get students reacting to earlier versions of themselves and talking about their experience. Looks and feels real. Look
Leeds Beckett is making a hell of a claim on its Clearing landing page: “Guaranteed Place if You Register Before Results Day”. Of course, this comes with a small “terms and conditions” link. But damn, if there’s a limit to what you can say in a headline, here it is. Read
🧑🎓 What students are saying
“I believe that [social media] restrictions are something that should be decided by parents and not the government. Social media has a lot of pros and cons, [and] as a creative student, I use social media to promote my artwork. I feel like something like that would be very difficult if I suddenly couldn't use TikTok or Instagram.” College students react to the UK government's decision to impose a social media ban for under-16s by Spring. Look
👾 Culture shock
iPhone linked to fall in birthrate. Read
Anthropic and OpenAI might “pause” AI development. Read
