APPENDIX 1 - CDG

Marketing and Communications Service

Using Market Intelligence as part of the Course Approval and Periodic Course Review processes

The University’s Market Intelligence team is here to help your school with both processes, providing both resources and specific expertise in the area of market research and intelligence within the Higher Education sector. See

Course Planning and Approval

As you will be aware, the course planning process considers the business case for a proposed new course. In many cases, market research/intelligence is a necessary component in supporting this business case.

We are aware that there are various types of intelligence/information to consider within the course approval process and that market intelligence is just one piece of the jigsaw. ‘Soft intelligence’ provided within the schools (in the form of ‘inside knowledge’, experience, or even gut feeling) also has its place within this process, but the skill is in piecing all the types of information together to create a strong evidence base to support your new course idea.

Some Questions you might want to ask?

-What is the current market for programmes like this? Is it increasing or decline?

-Who is the market? Student Profile by gender, age, or ethnicity.

-Where is the market? – Geographical distribution?

-What is the best course title?

-What should be included in the course/what do other HEIs offer? – Modules, USPs, assessment, contact hours

-Are prospective students interested / what do they want?

-How much to charge?

-What entry tariff requirement?

Periodic Course Review process

The Market Intelligence Team is able to support Schools in the course review process by providing a number of different analyses, such as, a competitor comparison/review of course portfolio or with a focus on more specific aspects of a School’s portfolio, e.g. fees, unique selling points, delivery, etc.

Our Service to schools:

Desk Research:

Data -

  • HESA data by domicile - 4 years of student course data for all UK HEIs
  • UCAS Applications - Applications/Accepts, 3 years data, All HEIs, by JACS Subject line
  • Mapping analysis (GIS) – Can map HESA, Census, data, any postcode data from Banner. Various boundary sets including Local Government, Super Output Areas, etc.
  • Subject View Reports – Provided by an external HE agency, providing a substantial base of market intelligence for a large number of subjects at UCLan, including trends in Further and Higher Education.
  • Web search – Scanning for intelligence (Institution websites, HE external agencies, international sources, basic digital listening).
  • HE publications – Academic journals, publications.

Primary Research:

  • We are able to access current students, prospective students, parents, influencers, etc.
  • Access to research panel of 1262 current students, and in the future (Winter 2012), a sizeable panel of prospective students
  • Online quantitative surveys – writing, designing, programming, and analysis services.
  • Focus Groups and in-depth interviews – available face-to face or run entirely online.
  • Short-term online research communities – design, administration, and analysis services. (Wider research aim than focus groups, can run over one to two weeks)
  • Support with commissioning research from external agencies.

The Process:

  1. Look atthe SubjectView Reports – It is always a good idea to check the baseline intelligence before considering launching a new course. The Market Intelligence Team purchase a number of self-contained intelligence reports by JACS subject/4-digit JACS code (50+ reports) that provide useful insight into:
  2. prospective student numbers,
  3. competitor HEI student numbers
  4. market size and growth
  5. UCAS applications/accepts
  6. Tariff on entry
  7. International profile – student numbers
  8. Decision-making factors
  9. Return on investment

Reports are available on the intranet at -

(We do not have reports for every programme at UCLan, if your subject is missing and you feel it shouldn’t be, please contact us to see whether it can be purchased this year, or placed on the list for the next purchase cycle).

  1. Contactyour Schools Marketing Business Partner to discuss requirements – they will help formulate your request and liaise with the Market Intelligence team on your behalf (if required). They can also advise on the new course marketing requirements at this stage in the process.
  1. Request to Market Intelligence Team ()

Requests can take any form; whether a well-defined request for a particular type of analysis, or a general research enquiry which might need further definition. If it is the latter we can arrange to meet and discuss your requirements, before settling on the most appropriate methodology to provide you with the answers that you are looking for.

We will also consider the scale of the work required. We will try to balance a number of factors in order to ensure that the time put aside for any work is appropriate to the level of priority for the university and school - risk; potential size of course; single course or multiple courses; understanding of current market for this subject; ‘soft intelligence’ available; cost/income.

Consideration of these factors will influence the time, expenditure, and methodology appropriate for the research request.

  1. Receipt of completed work

-Does the research answer your questions?

-Does the evidence support the development of a new course?

-Please provide feedback to the Market Intelligence Team, to help us to continuously improve.

July 2012

Updated May 2017

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