University of South Wales Drives 60% Enrolment Conversion Through Unibuddy Community

Challenge 

The University of South Wales is a long-time user of Unibuddy of almost five years, using both Unibuddy Chat and Community. Before Unibuddy, recruitment relied on traditional channels such as email and on-campus events, which shared strong academic information, but offered no way for prospects to connect with current students outside of these moments. 

Over time, the team noticed that students were engaging earlier and were well-informed academically, but had growing concerns about the student experience. This was amplified post-Covid and was especially relevant at USW, which has a disproportionately high number of commuter students who don’t live on campus.

The team at USW knew they were missing something, but found it hard to put a finger on it without the data and missing information. “We were keen to implement something that addressed these issues, but not from an authority figure presenting information, but a space where you could talk to people who would be honest, who were living it,” explains Andrew Jackson, Student Recruitment Events Manager.

Solution

University of South Wales initially explored Unibuddy because it was widely known across the sector and kept coming up in conversations. At the time, only Unibuddy Chat was available, but the team quickly realised that the platform aligned perfectly with their goals, and implemented Community once it was available.

“Unibuddy really listens to their customers. They will try things, and if it doesn’t quite click, they learn from it and evolve. That level of understanding of the client and sector is outstanding,” Andrew reflects.

Unibuddy Community delivered results almost immediately. Prospect questions started flowing, and within a couple months the team were able to identify and address emerging trends and gaps. Granular chat data helps USW adapt messaging, while summaries feed into CRM communications or ambassador-led videos, creating seamless, dynamic content. 

Other features, like confidence scoring and the ability to link enrolment data to user activity, give Andrew and his team valuable insights for ROI conversations. Community has become largely self-sustaining, offering rich engagement, supported by robust moderation and safely features. Overall, the tools allow USW to manage high levels of engagement while making data-driven decisions. 

Impact

Unibuddy has had a clear, measurable effect on student engagement and enrolment at the University of South Wales. Students entering Community are more likely to convert, having resolved the anxieties and assessed the information they needed. This has resulted in a 60% enrolment conversion rate across Community.

By providing a safe, curated space for students, Unibuddy allows USW to guide conversations that matter, highlighting the questions prospects actually want answered.

With four years of accumulated data, USW can now track trends, plan the academic year more granularly, and tailor strategies to the timing and nature of student concerns. As Andrew explains:

“When you start using Unibuddy, you are opened up to so much data anyway. But as the years go by, all that data compiles and you can analyse trends each year. It really allows you to plan in a much more granular way, and the data is so much more personalised to your institution and students.”

The University of South Wales also values the close partnership with Unibuddy. Dedicated Customer Success support ensures the team understands the data, identifies useful features, and receives guidance whenever needed, making it a genuinely collaborative relationship.