The Higher Education Industry

Navigating a changing landscape

From improving the student experience and accommodation offering, to using the university facilities to generate additional income, the higher education industry continues to evolve year-on-year.

Student accommodation teams are seeing increased competition, while student experience teams seek ways to give students the upmost value for money and ensure that their wellbeing is a top priority. Not to mention the high level of pressure on the conferencing teams to achieve revenue targets and contribute to surplus funds.

Over the past 20 years, we have created a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to help you and your team deal with the challenges you face.

Trusted by these universities:

Let's deep dive into your area

Student
Accommodation

Student
Experience

Residence
Life

Catering Management

Commercial
Bedroom Management

Student
Support

Event &
Conference Management

Sales & Marketing

Operations

Technology & Systems

Finance
& Admin

Industry-wide problems that might be holding you back

Attracting students

Although student numbers are statistically increasing (HESA, 2019), the common feeling amongst many universities is that it's becoming more difficult to attract students. The expectations that students have today is more advanced compared to what universities have previously offered, hence the competition for giving students the ultimate experience is increasing. Now, students have even more options for both their place of study and their accommodation than ever before.

Economics, politics and budgets

Our economic stability and political situation have a profound effect on universities, including how many international students are studying in the UK. This greatly impacts income from student fees. Additionally, the majority of universities are suffering from budget cuts, while trying to find new ways to generate additional income and give students the best value for their money. One cost that has strongly affected the higher education industry is the pension contribution law change.

Increased competition

Competition is becoming even stronger in the education sector. From international universities who are creeping up the global league tables to the purpose-built student accommodation providers who are upping housing standards; there is no department untouched. Students also have alternative routes to a successful career that do not involve a university degree. They are faced with so many options that getting them to choose your institution is proving even more of a challenge.

Monitoring student wellbeing

As student wellbeing, from anxiety to suicide, is being highlighted across the industry, especially by the media; this sensitive subject is causing a lot of concern. Mental health awareness has significantly increased and is being spoken about more publicly. University teams are a big part of making a positive change to student wellbeing which, as a result, also improves student retention.

Holding conferences & events

Many universities have a dedicated conferencing and events team who focus on generating additional income by promoting the university facilities. There are many associated challenges when it comes to this, including room allocation disputes, communication, and logistics. Other departments are often not aware of the impact that conferencing teams have on the wider university objectives, including increasing student enrolment.

Filling empty bedrooms

Accommodation and conferencing teams are targeted to hit maximum student occupancy during term time, as well as selling empty bedrooms during non-term time. Advertising bedrooms, managing guest stays and integrating this with other departments can be complex but it is important for the university to achieve their targets. After all, empty bedrooms result in lost opportunities and revenue.

How do our solutions help the higher education industry?

Alleviate the burden of manual, monotonous and repetitive tasks so staff can be creative and skilful, whilst focusing on revenue driven activities.

By integrating with third party platforms, you will avoid duplication, user error and save significant time.

Share cross-departmental information easily and create more value from it.

Seamlessly integrate stunning front-end websites with user-friendly back-office software, improving both yours and your customer's experience.

An improved and more intuitive system enables teams to increase their efficiency.

By using intuitive software, information is readily available wherever you are.

Show me solutions for...

Student Accommodation Management

Student
Wellbeing Management

Conferencing and Event Management

Catering Management

Commercial Bedroom Management

We think you might like these...

How do you become a unicorn in a herd of horses?

The increasing number of higher education institutions offering academic qualifications means that fillings places on a course or major is competitive. Universities are now competing more than ever before, so establishing a high rank position in the market is vital. But is it only the official rank that matters?
Read More

4 reasons you should be using a hosted solution

Cast your mind back to March 2020… You’re sat on the sofa and Boris Johnson announces that all businesses would have to work from home where possible. For some Kinetic customers, this news was absolutely fine! There were no concerns or issues about connectivity, security and support. But for others, well… this was only just…
Read More

Top 15 in quarantine: Things for the kids to do

Stuck at home with the kids during lockdown? Entertaining them whilst working from home can be a challenge! Even when it comes to the weekend, all you hear is “I’m bored…” 10 minutes later… “I’m bored…”
Read More

5 Contracting Best Practices for Conference Departments

Before you sign everyone on to next year’s events and conferences with your existing contracts, take a step back and have a look at them. You may want to consider making some changes to incorporate contracting best practices that may be missing.
Read More

4 challenges that university teams struggle with

The increase in mental health conditions being disclosed is reflected in the number of students withdrawing from university. As the student mental health crisis gets worse, there is more pressure on university teams to monitor the student’s wellbeing and support them as much as possible. However, up until now, university teams have experienced many challenges…
Read More

Everything you need to know about the enrollment gap

Are you familiar with the term ‘enrollment gap’? If the answer is no, let us explain! To put it simply, it is the gap between the increase of higher education institutions in the US and the decrease in student enrollments.
Read More

Why today’s students suffer with mental health

“If you need me – you know where I am” – how many people genuinely mean it? Sure, it sounds somewhat reassuring to a student, but in today’s world, it is counterintuitive to how young people communicate. There’s no denying that the shift in young people’s attention spans has been widely attributed to the advance…
Read More

What makes your student experience unique?

With over 160 higher education institutions in the UK alone and more than 2.30 million students, competition between universities and colleges remains high. Attracting new students can be a challenge! Institutions are constantly seeking new ways to stand out from the crowd and position themselves as one of the best. Identifying the unique selling proposition…
Read More

Simple solutions to managing a large event

Although large bookings bring the big bucks, they can also bring the most complexity, not just for you but for the event organiser of the group. But with a little preparation, you can ensure that large groups are managed efficiently, and you continue delivering outstanding events!
Read More

Search engines – the reason your competitor might be beating you

As we live in the time of an ever-growing digitalisation, there is no surprise that 89% of B2B buyers and 81% of B2C consumers conduct Google search before completing a purchase. This is a huge number! And here’s another interesting fact for you – 67% of the buyer’s journey is now done digitally. What does…
Read More