Boosting universities stricken by coronavirus

It has proven to be particularly successful for universities which have high overseas student intakes - and in recent weeks has become an invaluable tool as COVID-19 has gripped the world.

TAP Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Nik Higgins, is currently in Australia where the platform is attempting to establish itself as a market leader.

The London-based firm offers its service to international students at some of the country’s most prestigious and oldest universities including the University of Adelaide, RMIT University, University of Canberra, and the University of Newcastle. 

He said: “TAP helps to facilitate valuable connections between students and university ambassadors from around the world, providing them with information and advice they want on a platform they can use intuitively, and from anywhere in the world.

“What we have seen in the last few weeks is a significant increase in the number of interactions on the platform, as students take full advantage of its capabilities amid the Coronavirus outbreak.

“As much as Covid 19 is causing billions of people to retreat, self isolate or be instructed to isolate, TAP continues to allow anybody with access to the platform to continue the conversation with their chosen university and its ambassadors.”

In addition to its rapid expansion in Australia, TAP is also used at a number of colleges at the University of Oxford, at the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School and number of further Russell Group universities in the UK.

According to research conducted by the pioneering digital platform, partner universities using the system have seen a dramatic increase in the number of international students accepting offers of study after engaging with a student ambassador online.

Nick Golding is TAP’s Director of Strategic Development and is in active conversation with a number of universities about the prospect of them adopting The Access Platform’s technology as they battle to mitigate the effects of Covid 19.

Golding added: “Universities and colleges around the world are understandably anxious about the fallout from Coronavirus. 

“With campuses, states and countries in lockdown, and restrictions on both inbound and outbound travel, traditional modes of student engagement and recruitment, whether overseas or domestically, are being severely disrupted; and that could have a big impact on admissions this autumn.