UK and international prospective students will be able to chat in real-time with current students at universities in the UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand through the platform.
It also will allow them to ask questions about potential study destinations, from admissions processes to night life and everything in between.
“Everything we do at IDP Education is about putting students first”
“We are delighted to offer this free service to prospective students, supporting them as they choose their higher education options, one of the most important decisions of their lives. This partnership will also support our university partners, allowing them to showcase their student ambassadors and their experiences to an engaged audience of actively researching prospective students,” said Simon Emmett, CEO of IDP Connect.
Unibuddy Discover will be available to use on IDP’s flagship advice websites such as WhatUni and all Hotcourses international websites and will feature student ambassadors from King’s College London, NYU Tandom and Erasmus University, along with others from the 800 universities the companies are partnered with collectively.
“Everything we do at IDP Education is about putting students first. We are guided by the needs and interests of prospective students, and this has over the years ensured that we deliver the best service for them. I believe our new partnership with Unibuddy will deliver a service that is highly valued by prospective students: hearing directly from current students about their study experiences via real-time chats.” added Emmett.
Diego Farana, CEO and co-founder of Unibuddy, said that the partnership takes their “student-first approach to recruitment to the next level”.
“Now anyone considering their future in education has the chance to build meaningful connections with current university students and gain valuable insight and guidance before they take the plunge into their future.
“This represents a new milestone toward our mission to transform the way students and universities connect with one another. We’re giving our 500+ university partners another route to access prospective students from diverse backgrounds, and allowing every young person access to the best advice and guidance on their journey to higher education.” added Farana.
Describing the partnership as a “win-win” for both students and institutions, Farana said that “universities get to put their best foot forward: showcasing their student ambassadors and their experiences to an engaged audience. Prospective students get access to an authentic source of information through real-time chats with current students.”
We are delighted to announce that @Unibuddy_ and IDP will be entering an exciting new partnership to offer a peer-to-peer platform on IDP’s flagship websites by embedding Unibuddy. Discover more: https://t.co/Dxde8g30T8 pic.twitter.com/vSBajdgLgU
— IDP Connect (@IDP_Connect) May 23, 2022
Students can refine searches by subject or region, enabling them to discover institutions they might have otherwise overlooked.
A study by Unibuddy and Intead found that 57% of students said speaking with an institution’s student ambassadors was the most helpful resource for choosing a university and so the partnership aims to offer this support at every stage of the student journey to higher education.
On average, 51% of prospective students that use Unibuddy will apply to the institution they chatted with, suggesting that peer-to-peer support provides the information and reassurance prospective students need when deciding where to study.
