1. Student Communications and Marketing, DSE Summary findings from Offer Holder Survey 2016 and implications for the future Student Communications and Marketing Team June 2016

2. Offer holder survey 2016 -Survey primary objective to ensure the University is meeting the information needs of offer holders, providing the right information at the right time -Asked about: Offer letter leaflet Manchester Advantage (home and international) Living in Manchester E-advantage Student Communications and Marketing, DSE

3. -Survey sent in offer holder e-newsletter, e-advantage, in April 2016 -Survey created and analysed by Janice Ellis, Market Research Coordinator, Division of Communications and Marketing -2,970 offer holders completed the survey comprised of: 3% from foundation programmes 73% undergraduate 21% postgraduate taught 3% postgraduate research 58% UK respondents 13% EU respondents 29% international respondents Offer holder survey 2016 Student Communications and Marketing, DSE

4. Full report available at http://bit.ly/1ZqYjZJ Offer holder survey 2016 Student Communications and Marketing, DSE

5. Headline findings -Overall… When asked to give a combined overall rating for the brochures they received, 94% of respondents rated the brochures good or very good. High ratings were received across all respondent groups (by origin and by level of study). -Most respondents (90%) welcome post-offer information from universities, and 70% agree they are more likely to accept an offer from a university that provides further (post- offer) information. Student Communications and Marketing, DSE

6. Headline findings Student Communications and Marketing, DSE -Offer letter leaflet Half (50%) of all respondents remember receiving the leaflet included with the offer letter, and 47% actually looked at it. Approaching three quarters (71%) of those who looked at the leaflet would describe it as welcoming and friendly. -Manchester Advantage – Home and international 52% of UK/EU and 60% of international respondents remember receiving the Manchester Advantage brochure. Feedback for both brochures was very positive: 90% of both UK/EU and international respondents rated the brochures good/very good for clarity of information 93% of international and 87% of UK/EU respondents rated content good/very good.

7. Headline findings Student Communications and Marketing, DSE -Living in Manchester 76% remember receiving the Living In Manchester brochure. This also received high scores for content and clarity of information (90% rating it good/very good). -E-advantage 73% of respondents think the frequency of the e-advantage emails is about right. The themes of accommodation and teaching and learning are most likely to be of interest to respondents.

8. There is lots of verbatim feedback from offer holders, which can be accessed via http://bit.ly/1r9zeq8. We will be using these specific suggestions to inform our future conversion communications… Student Communications and Marketing, DSE

9. The very positive feedback on our publications (94% rated as either good or very good) tells us we are on the right lines with the content and need to continue to improve and segment each year as we do now. Comparatively low is the recollection of our leaflets, and along with verbatim comments around use of colour and imagery, we need to focus on creating more impactful design…especially on the covers. We also need to be clear about the purpose of each communication The e-advantage frequency and topics were fairly positive, but more work can be undertaken – around topics pertinent to different audiences, and timings of these themes. Theme popularity would be very useful for Schools to utilise for their own communications with offer holders. These comments are inputting directly into every project plan for each communication, to ensure we are carefully considering all feedback. Lessons learned for future cycles… Student Communications and Marketing, DSE

10. If you have any questions about this market research, please contact studentmarketing@manchester.ac.uk or 57591