The results of our 2023 Enquiry Experience Tracker are in!

This year’s study included 128 higher education institutions globally, across the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

Developed in partnership with student conversion specialists UniQuest, Edified’s Enquiry Experience Tracker is a syndicated mystery shopping and benchmarking program that looks at how well universities and colleges are handling enquiries from prospective students.

The EET Awards celebrate good practice and recognise the institutions who are performing well. We ran 9 awards this year, in categories ranging from best in region to overall student favourite. Awards were up for grabs across five regions: Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Europe and the UK.

Here are this year's winners:

Best in region

Best in Canada: Wilfrid Laurier International College, Canada

Best in ANZ: Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

Best in the UK: Keele University, England

Wilfrid Laurier International College delivered the best experience overall to mystery shoppers than any other in Canada. It won this award against 29 Canadian institutions included in the 2023 Enquiry Experience Tracker research, including a mix of universities and colleges across different provinces. Leigh-Ellen Keating, Director of Marketing and Recruitment at Wilfrid Laurier International College says:

“We are thrilled to be named best in Canada.  At Wilfrid Laurier International College, we put the student first and really value student engagement.  The Enquiry Experience Tracker has given us valuable insight into how our messaging is being received, what is resonating and where we can make some adjustments.  It's fantastic to be recognised for our performance and we look forward to implementing what we have learned through this process.”

Keele University delivered the best experience than any other of the 48 UK institutions included in the study, covering a broad sample across all countries and university groupings. Robbie Pickles, Director of Global Student Recruitment and Admissions at Keele says:

“At Keele, we are committed to supporting all prospective students to make an informed decision about what and where to study. We are delighted to be recognised for our significant efforts, alongside our partner UniQuest who work closely with us to ensure students are appropriately supported throughout their journey to university. Following our recent Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework, we are proud to be recognised for our commitment to delivering an outstanding experience for both our current and future students.”

Best channel experience

Best Email Experience: University of Dundee, Scotland

Best Instagram Experience: Western Sydney University, Australia

Best Peer-to-Peer Experience: De Montfort University - Leicester, England

The Best Channel Experience awards recognise institutions with the highest score through each channel and take into consideration all aspects of the enquiry experience including responsiveness, communication quality, follow-up, and impact. The winning institutions have the highest score recorded for an enquiry responded to for the particular channel.

University of Dundee was rated as delivering the Best Email Experience, meaning that it delivered the best experience to an enquiry by email than any other institution worldwide in the 2023 research. Karen Martin, Head of Enquirer and Applicant Communications at University of Dundee says:

"As well as a great opportunity to compare ourselves to other universities across the UK and globally, the Enquiry Experience Tracker gives meaningful insights and clear guidance on where improvements can be made in the future. Being recognised in this way is amazing and acknowledges the important role our Future Students Enquiry Team plays when communicating with prospective students."

De Montfort University Leicester was rated as delivering the Best Peer-to-Peer Experience, meaning that it delivered the best experience to a peer-to-peer enquiry. Francis Glover, Deputy Director - International at De Montfort University Leicester says:

“At DMU we understand that our students are fantastic advocates, and that applicants want to hear authentic voices from those who have gone before them. It is fantastic to be able to give those who live the DMU experience the chance to share it with those who will live it next. The students who work in our peer-to-peer support team should be really proud of achieving this best in sector result.”

Special awards

Most Improved: Fanshawe College, Canada

The Most Improved award is given to recognise the institution that has demonstrated the greatest year-on-year improvement, as indicated by the shift in their Enquiry Experience Score.

Fanshawe College demonstrated the greatest improvement from 2022 to 2023 out of the global sample. Wendy Curtis, Dean, International at Fanshawe College says:

“We are remarkably proud of our diverse teams’ commitment to deliver an exceptional level of customer service to our student enquiries. The Enquiry Experience Tracker is a unique opportunity for us to benchmark our enquiry services with other institutions globally. This award is a testament to our teams’ concentrated effort this past year to streamline communications and respond quickly to all enquiries. Our student ambassador, recruitment, digital communications, admissions, student life and advising, transition and engagement, and customer service teams have all united to raise the bar on coordinated and personalised responses to potential international students at Fanshawe College.”

‍Student Favourite: Lancaster University, Leipzig, Germany

This Student Favourite award recognises the institution with the highest impact score worldwide. Mystery shoppers are asked to describe their overall sentiment after engaging with each institution, and to indicate their level of interest and how likely they would be to explore further after making an enquiry. Lancaster University, Leipzig had students feeling most positive and likely to continue engaging.

Lancaster University Leipzig was the student favourite. Kamila Szalast, Director of Marketing and Recruitment says:

“We're thrilled to have been voted Student Favourite and honored to have been chosen from among 128 prestigious universities. At Lancaster University Leipzig, the student experience is our top priority, from the initial inquiry, through the application process, and all the way to graduation. Our dedicated on-campus team takes immense pride in working with students from across the world and is fully dedicated to offering them the highest level of personalized support throughout this significant journey. With nearly 100 different nationalities represented on our campus since our establishment in 2020, receiving such an award is a tremendous privilege and a great source of motivation for us.”

‍Congratulations to all our winners above for their exceptional performance in the respective categories!

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To see the full results along with global and regional benchmarks read a copy of the 2023 Enquiry Experience Tracker Global Report.

To learn more about the Enquiry Experience Tracker or get help with optimising the prospective student experience at your institution, reach out at eet@edified.com.au.