Universities across the UK are already thinking about the Clearing process and how to attract the right students. Successful Clearing is essential—it gives students a second chance to realise their educational potential, and universities the opportunity to fill the remaining places on their courses.

When the Clearing application hotline opens

When the time comes, most students have already done their research. They will have chosen the courses they want and the university that they believe will best meet their needs. On A-level results day, thousands of students will attack Clearing with the same enthusiasm they demonstrate when trying to secure tickets to their favourite festivals. They’re ready to act fast, and universities need to be ready to respond just as fast.

Securing a place can be straightforward for the student who has the right qualifications, but sitting in queues waiting for an agent may cause them to quit or apply elsewhere. There are some small steps that universities can take to help ensure that Clearing is as smooth as possible for all involved.

  1. Deliver a seamless student experience from application, through Clearing, and onto graduation. The 8x8 Communications Platform integrates with CRM, Microsoft Teams, and other business systems to deliver consistent, personalised student interactions.
  2. Simplify training for call handlers with intuitive user interfaces and a single view of communication channels for simplicity. 8x8 Agent Workspace presents agents with only the information they need and a single-pane view of all communications, reducing time spent switching between channels.
  3. Empower agents to perform better with collaboration tools to communicate with back-office, finance teams, and academics during student interactions. 8x8 Work connects staff and students for faster first-time resolutions.
  4. Increase student accessibility and allow students to interact through the channel of their choice with contextual hand-off to an agent to reduce the frustration of repeating information. Omnichannel experiences connect voice and digital experiences for better staff and student experiences.
  5. Deflect routine enquiries from busy handlers using AI-powered self-service environments across voice and digital channels. 8x8 Intelligent Customer Assistant can collect standard information such as course requirements and qualifications to reduce errors, answer FAQs via messaging bots, and route calls to the teams best able to provide the information required to reduce time to answer and call handling times.
  6. Manage performance and resources with real-time data and alerts. 8x8 Supervisor Workspace provides team leaders with customisable dashboards to monitor KPIs and manage queues and agents, to ensure no prospective student is left behind.

Managing communications for the best outcomes

8x8 Analytics provides data-driven insights to help and manage communications through the academic year with real-time and historic metrics to identify trends for continuous improvement and allocate appropriate resources to meet seasonal fluctuations and Clearing.

Speech analytics and call recordings provide clarity, protect the integrity of students and staff, and provide valuable insights to highlight and respond quickly to training requirements.

Day-to-day management is simplified with real-time data and alerts that give team leaders complete visibility of activity across all communication channels, alongside tools to manage workflows and resources. Data to monitor calls in queues, agents available, average wait times, and abandonment rates provide the information required to manage communications more effectively during peak periods and throughout the academic year.

8x8 Quality Management tools make it easy to monitor KPIs and evaluate every interaction to ensure compliance and behaviour expectations are maintained and that no student is left behind.

Make a good first impression

Students will be looking at university league tables. The way you handle the application and Clearing process is their first impression of you as a university and having the right tools in the contact centre is crucial to making a good first impression and securing the best in students.

Discover more about 8x8 solutions for education:

See how Worcester University reduces average call handling times and wait times on the busiest day of the year with 8x8.

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