Clearing 2023

Clearing 2023 The fast-track to your student recruitment target

What can we expect for 2023?

“Clearing is never easy to predict. And, if recent years have taught us anything, surely it is to not make assumptions about future trends.

But… 2022 did provide an encouraging sense of normality. With nearly 60,000 students finding a place through Clearing by end of September 2022, we just might be returning to pre-pandemic behaviour.

Allied to this, Clearing’s stigma continues to decline. When we surveyed university applicants in July 2022, 74% considered Clearing a good choice for those looking to change their options. Just 25% thought Clearing was solely for people who missed their grades.

These applicants were also open to the opportunities Clearing provides. If they didn’t get their place at university, three-fifths (60%) said they would look for the same course at different universities. However, only 32% felt they knew a lot about Clearing. Communication is key for enabling conversion in the coming months.

Other factors to consider this cycle As families feel the pinch, students’ university plans could be affected amidst the cost of living crisis. In our Cost of Living report (Sept 2022), 47% of the Year 12 and 13 students surveyed were more likely to change their university plans (either choosing a university closer to home or living at home and commuting to university) than they would have 12 months earlier.

Whatever the coming months hold in store, The Student Room team is here to support you with your campaigns, goals and challenges.”

Claire Gammell, Director of Marketing & Engagement

The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

High engagement on A-Level Results Day 2022 Every year, The Student Room proves that it is the go-to destination for applicants as they receive their grades. While some were on our platform celebrating their success, a huge number came seeking advice about applying through Clearing.

Results Week activity (18-24 August 2022)

Results Day activity 1,194,291 pageviews

491 Official Rep posts

367,628 users

3,071,787 words written

9,785 posts

773,354 Education forum pageviews

Results Day: Top forums by pageviews 138,113

Medicine

The Student Room

134,378

A levels

81,416

Applications, Clearing & UCAS

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

1.8 million users

2.5 million

964,233

Views of Official Rep posts

Education forum views

hello@thestudentroom.com

What students were saying on Results Day “I haven’t tried that, thank you!!

I will phone them now, how did you find that, you guys are legends!”

“I wish I used The Student Room a lot more during these years considering the level of support on here is outstanding. I really appreciate your kind words as well as everyone else’s kind words here.”

The Student Room

“Hey! I did manage to, thank you for your help! And allyour support yesterday! Feels great to look forward now and completely forget about A Levels, thank god.”

“Hey guys! I guess this is kinda my goodbye to this thread once we get our results. It sort of officially marks the end of year 11. Just wanted to say how nice it was to have a community of other year 11s to chat with from across the country. I’ll see some of you guys on the year 12 thread!”

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

Clearing flight plan Optimised for the student journey We delivered more than 100 Clearing campaigns for university clients in 2022. This flight plan shows our recommendations for when to run your student activity to achieve the best results this cycle. Look out for our key on the product pages to identify the best media options for each stage of your campaign.

‘Always on’ brand building and 2023 applicant engagement activity ‘Always on’ postgraduate engagement Pre-UCAS deadline

Clearing

Key time for applicant consideration and research

Subject specific

Subject specific

Which courses need a boost?

Open Day activity

Open Day activity

Look for the flight plan colour key on the following pages to see what products align with your campaign schedule.

Research and test creatives Research Clearing audience and test strategy Influence applicant decision-making before UCAS deadline Early engagement 2024 applicants Pre-Clearing

SEP

OCT

The Student Room

NOV

DEC

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

Peak Clearing

JUL

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

AUG hello@thestudentroom.com

National, region and subject bundles Put your opportunities front and centre during the Results period with our exclusive Clearing packages.

These targeted solutions reach Clearing applicants who match your student recruitment criteria during the peak A-level Results Week window.

Packages enable you to target by National reach

Region

Subject

Providing big budget savings compared to rate card inventory, you will receive an impactful mix of media including:

Email sent in Results Week

SMS sent in Results Week

Forum sponsorship in Results Week

Targeted display impressions

Our National packages also provide you with Clearing content and your courses boosted in the search results on The Uni Guide.

Packages targeted by subject, region or nationally

Huge savings versus rate card

Exclusively yours - only one university per package

Find bandings and breakdowns on TSR Matters

Starting from £4,000, find out more about the packages at TSR Matters and contact us to discuss audience reach and costs for your chosen target areas.

The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

Clearing forum sponsorship

Key Dates July - August

Maximise your exposure to Clearing applicants by sponsoring a forum The Student Room forums are well-loved and trusted spaces where students connect, ask questions and share information.

8.2M sessions*

Excellent brand awareness tool

By sponsoring a forum, your brand will be prominently displayed in a space where applicants are already making life-changing decisions about where to apply in Clearing.

With many forums to choose from, you can align your campaign with your unique audience targeting and recruitment goals. For example, you can focus on a particular subject, or cast a wider net by sponsoring our A levels or Applications, Clearing and UCAS forums.

Contact us for the full breakdown of forum options.

Starting from

£3,000 per week

*July-August 2022, session forums The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

(contact us for subject band breakdown)

Email - Clearing database

Key Dates Late July - August

Our Clearing applicants are waiting to hear from you The Student Room’s Clearing database is a warm audience of prospective applicants who have opted in to hear about Clearing places.

July

You can email the whole database, or use targeting criteria, such as subject interest or location to find your ideal applicant audience.

£10,000

In 2022, one university achieved an open rate of 66.7% and a CTO of 7.7%.

August

Average open to delivered rate 48.7%

£12,000 Results Day

Target the full database or choose from our targeted audiences

£17,500 Subject or location targeting starts from

£1,500

The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

(contact us for band breakdown)

Clearing competitor targeting

Key Dates August

Target applicants who are interested in your closest competitors with email or SMS

Limited to 10 clients

Your campaign will reach a highly bespoke audience of Year 13 Clearing applicants who are interested in your university or any of the top ten competitors you nominate.

These bespoke, highly targeted communications put you front-of-mind when your strongest prospective applicants are comparing your university against similar options.

Influence students who are still undecided about where to study

The Student Room

Send dates start from July

SMS or email

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

Limited to 10 clients

hello@thestudentroom.com

Please request pricing for your bespoke audience

Listicle emails

Key Dates July - August

An authentic way to reach a minimum of 100,000 prospective applicants Feature in a listicle email to achieve huge audience reach, while splitting your share of voice with other universities.

Our recipients trust The Student Room to send them appropriate university options which match their preferences, which is why these emails get strong engagement.

Listicles give students a choice, resulting in a more authentic, user-centric experience.

Sent to minimum

100,000 recipients

47.7%

Average open to deliver rate*

15.1%

Premium slot from

Average clicks per unique URL in listicle

£5,000 Standard slot from

*July-August 2022, Listicle Clearing campaigns. Open-to-deliver rate (more accurate).

The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

£3,000

SMS - Clearing database

Key Dates August Results Week

Text students your Clearing places during Results Week Students are never far from their mobile phones. Get instant exposure to Clearing applicants by sending an SMS in Results Week.

Our Year 13 audience has opted in to receive Clearing updates from universities, so they are primed and waiting to hear from you. SMS sends are available between 10th and 24th August (inclusive).

August*

4.8%

Average click

to deliver rate

£12,000

I wish [universities] would reach out via text…that’s something that I would check.

That’s something that I would see.

Results Day

£15,000

Year 13 student (Student Voice webinar panelist - July ‘22)

Subject or location targeting starts from

£750

The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

(contact us for band breakdown)

Display

Key Dates June - August

Be seen and remembered on the UK’s largest online student platform Targeting Impressions Place your digital ads in the ideal locations for Clearing applicant traffic. We continually optimise your live campaign towards the best performing ad formats.

Average CTR% Billboard 0.09% Other 0.08%

Clearing button

Clearing Button (only 10 available) Your Clearing button will display in strategic locations across The Student Room from mid-July to August. Clearing buttons are simple to set up and our insight-led creative direction will maximise your impact.

£8,000

1 million impressions guaranteed

Mixed format

£15 CPM

(during the peak Clearing window)

Billboards The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

£20 CPM

Clearing sponsored content Position your brand on articles that help Clearing applicants make decisions about where to study.

Key Dates Late July - mid August*

28,573

*depends on context

pageviews from prospective Clearing applicants*

Students come to our Clearing Hub looking for guidance and support during what is often a confusing and stressful time. Why not associate your brand with the positive experience of finding answers and feeling reassured?

Our Customer Success team can advise you on the best topics and contextual locations for your campaign.

Some great examples of sponsored articles from 2022 include: Confused about Clearing? Here are 10 top tips Help! I’m having second thoughts about my uni choice Here’s what actually happens on A Level Results Day How to get the best out of your Clearing call

Starting from

* Pageviews from the Clearing hub during July/August 2022 The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

£7,500

Clearing TSR Talks

Key Dates Late July - mid August*

Use your experts to attract applicants Start a lively discussion thread which supports your Clearing strategy and showcases what your university has to offer.

Take a look at a TSR Talks here.

Our team will offer free training and continued support for your Guest Speaker to help them connect with our student audience.

We’ll also run up to two weeks of promotion and roadblocked ads on your TSR Talks page to maximise your brand exposure.

We only host one TSR Talk per week, so book early to secure your spot in Clearing.

Benchmark 1,000 pageviews

3 minutes average dwell time on page

Very limited availability

Starting from

*Education campaigns in August 2022 The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

£8,500

Ada - off-site retargeting

Key Dates July - August

Are your digital ads being seen in Clearing?

By combining our powerful audience insights with industry-leading retargeting technology and precise conversion-tracking, we drive exceptional results for your Clearing campaign.

Our programmatic solution retargets The Student Room’s audience with your digital ads in brand-safe locations off-site. This allows you to target Clearing applicants throughout their decision-making journey by creating multiple marketing touchpoints across the web.

User visits TSR

80%

average viewability

User leaves and browses other websites

While browsing other sites your ad appears

10,000+ tracked conversions*

Starting from *July-August 2022, Ada clearing campaigns The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

£10 CPM

The Uni Guide - lead pack and search boost

Key Dates Always on*

Highly-qualified applicant leads on a cost-per-action basis The Uni Guide attracts traffic from applicants in the final decision-making stages. Users are shown your profile when it matches their course, location or university search criteria, so your audience is always highly-qualified when they click your lead buttons.

During August 2022, we saw a 89% year-on-year increase in total leads generated and a 67% increase in average clickthrough rate on the lead buttons.

Try our similar universities feature - it signposts applicants to your profile and away from your competitors. This signposts applicant traffic directly to your university profile (and away from any competitors who do not have this feature enabled).

To maximise your reach and leads, you can also add search boosts to your package. This promotes your listing to one of the top three positions for two weeks.

Add lead buttons to your profile

Maximum 24 search boost slots available

Search boost increases weekly leads by 160% and CTR by 94% on average

Starting from Lead pack:

£5,000 Search boost:

£4,000 The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

(two weeks)

UPP Unlimited

Key Dates Always on

Engage Clearing applicants at every stage in their decision-making journey

This package includes

UPP Unlimited is your always-on approach to brand awareness and drives engagement with Clearing applicants.

An impactful mix of media and engagement tools enable you to attract, engage, convert and understand your target audience. You’ll receive your exclusive University Guide and Forum, and support this with Official Reps so you can provide the reassurance and answers students need.

Amplify awareness about your Clearing places with targeted display advertising both on and offsite. Then maximise applicant conversions with unlimited lead credits on The Uni Guide.

On-site targeted impressions

University Guide (ad-blocked)

University Forum (ad-blocked)

Course listing promotion on The Uni Guide

The Student Room

Impressions from off-site remarketing

Keyword alerts

Two questions in our monthly omnibus survey to a Year 12 & 13 audience

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

Three Official Rep accounts

Lead generation on The Uni Guide

Exclusive access to new student research

hello@thestudentroom.com

UPP Unlimited

£30,000

Youth research

Key Dates Always on

Set yourself up for a successful Clearing cycle TSR Insight is our in-house full service market research agency and has exclusive access to The Student Room community for market research.

The team specialises in higher education and is reliable, flexible and easy to brief. They can project manage all aspects of your research from initial conversation and recruitment to final debrief.

Strategic market research to drive your Clearing campaign

The Student Room

TSR Insight is an MRS Company Partner

“We worked with The Student Room on a bespoke research project with prospective undergraduate applicants.

By using an asynchronous bulletin board approach to our research, we were able to develop our questions on an agile basis which led to more detailed and practical insight. And we were able to put these themes and findings directly into action through our new undergraduate creative campaign and messaging.”

Gill Varley, Marketing Officer at Teesside University

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

Pricing varies by product and scale of research

Research offerings

Key Dates

TSR Asks

Vote and Tell

Our monthly omnibus survey enables you to put your questions to our audience of Year 12 and 13 students.

Get feedback on your designs from your target applicant audience.

This can inform your campaigns and will give you powerful insights into what applicants are feeling, as well as how they are making decisions.

Show your Clearing creatives to our audience and find out which they prefer. By carrying out this research in the planning stages, you will gain reassurance that your communications will resonate with applicants.

TSR Asks Feb-July Test Clearing messages once the application window has closed

Vote and Tell Nov-June Test your Clearing creatives

Other products and services

Online survey

Depth interviews

Online focus groups

UX testing

Bulletin boards

(bespoke and omnibus)

(online and telephone)

(text chat or video)

(accompanied and self moderated surfs)

(5 days of qualitative questions with 20 participants)

TSR Asks from

£400

Vote and Tell The Student Room

+44 (0) 800 999 3222

hello@thestudentroom.com

£6,000

Get in touch Raise the profile of your university and attract more Clearing applicants. The Student Room has a proven track record of delivering high-impact, targeted media solutions that exceed our clients’ student recruitment goals and deliver great results. We can’t wait to work on your Clearing campaign. hello@thestudentroom.com 0800 999 3222