British Council India: Counselling days for UK institutions

SIEM India presents an opportunity for UK institutions to meet and counsel students who have already applied and have made the first step towards enrolment at a UK institution. Universities can also meet fresh applicants interested in studying in the UK.

Counselling days are being organised for UK institutions to guide students who are in the deciding phase or in the process of shortlisting an offer. This exclusive visit will be an excellent platform for participating UK institutions to convert their existing applicants and meet new students in a face-to-face format in key cities across India. Institutions can take this opportunity to extend their brand presence and create awareness across a larger student population through a single location in each city.

 What was the success of the ‘counselling days’ held in 2016?

• Across the 6 cities, nearly 250 students registered for the events
• Over 70% registration was from the new prospective students
• At each city, participating delegates met more than 8 to 10 students at their respective tables.

Format of the programme:

The intake target will be for September 2017 and January 2018.

Event dates:

• British Council Kolkata –Saturday 17 June 2017
• British Council Delhi - Sunday 18 June 2017
• British Information Centre Bhubaneswar – Tuesday 20 June 2017
• British Council Chennai – Friday 23 June 2017
• British Council Bangalore – Saturday 24 June 2017
• British Council Hyderabad – Tuesday 27 June 2017
• British Council Pune – Wednesday 28 June 2017
• British Council Mumbai – Thursday 29 June 2017
• British Council Ahmedabad- Friday 30 June 2017

All students will be required to register for the event through prior appointment. Appointments will be allocated to students who are considering studying at your specific institution or students that are holding offers and are in the final stages of decision making. 

Additionally, the event will also target a wider group of students who are considering the UK for higher studies but haven’t yet applied or currently hold offers from other countries. This will be done by us via social media marketing and all interested students will be directed to pre-register and confirm an appointment. You may also promote the counselling days to students you have met in the last one year directly or through agents and encourage them to meet you at the counselling day in each city. This will help you to meet all prospective students under one roof thus increasing the possibility of conversions for your institution.

The format of the programme will include:

1. Sessions delivered to students by the British Council to cover visas, scholarships, student life and study in the UK
2. Visa help desk or seminar – colleague from UK Visas and Immigration will be present at few venues while at other venues they connect via Skype to address student queries.
3. One to one appointments for applicants to meet with University representatives held at British Council offices.

These sessions will be held in a table top format and each Institution will be allowed a maximum representation of 2 delegates which can be a combination of two university delegates or one delegate and one alumni or one delegate and one agent.  However, we strongly recommend to UK institutions to invite their alumni to the event as it helps prospective students to understand various aspects of studying in the UK and there is no better brand ambassador than an alumnus of any UK institution. A detailed itinerary will be shared with participating UK institutions after confirmations are received.

How will this event be marketed to students?

For students who have already applied:

1. Institutions will be requested to communicate the event information to students and British Council will fix up city-wise appointments based on their responses.
2. UK institutions can also ask British Council to liaise directly with your students to market the event – for this we will require the participating institution to share the contact details of the students they have contacted over last few months.

For potential students for current intake, extensive and focussed publicity through:

1. Multiple British Council digital and social media platforms. This will include the British Council website, Study UK: Discover You website, Facebook and Twitter channels.
2. Emailers to a large student database and key contacts including schools and colleges databases.
3. Tele-calling to the relevant databases of students met over the last one year through British Council education events

Benefits to the participating Institutions:

1. One to one interaction with applicants who are already thinking about studying in the UK. Counselling them to inform about courses you offer that match the requirements of these students and increase conversion to your institution.
2. An opportunity to meet new prospective students for enrolment in the current intake
3. A platform to meet with your direct applicants who are not applying through agents
4. A quality driven focussed event with focussed students
5. Brand recognition through various social media platforms

Costs:

• Participation fee per city: £400 + VAT

Important Information about the event:

1. Participating delegates will need to organise and fund their own international/domestic air travel, accommodation and related expenses. We shall recommend hotels for accommodation to participating delegates directly
2. This event is open only to UK Institutions on a first come, first served basis. Agents alone will not be allowed to participate on behalf of the institution however an agent can accompany the university delegate.
3. The event will be open to a minimum of three UK institutions. Only two delegates per institution will be allowed to participate and this can be in a combination of an agent or alumni.
4. Participating institutions are requested to carry a branded tablecloth along with a University banner or a standee.
5. The participation fee does not include freight costs. Freight will be the responsibility of the participating institution.