Dead wood - should Covid-19 lead to the end of the printed prospectus?

They can use a lot of paper, but is the printed prospectus still critical to student recruitment?

They take hours of staff time, run to 100s of pages of print and require a considerable amount of lifting - but love them or loathe them the glossy university prospectus has always had a use. But will COVID-19 prove to be the final nail in the coffin for the prospectus? 

The rise of digital formats and environmental concerns (it’s a lot of paper) have long factored in the conversation about the future, or lack of one, for the prospectus. With counter-arguments including research that even millennials and Gen Zers love the association of a printed product. 

This article is part of our education marketing content series, we interviewed marketing and communications leaders from across higher and further education. We asked what they’ve learnt in 2020, and what they’re planning for the future. The series is packed with insights, top-tips, and their reflections on an unprecedented time.

As UCAS fairs and regular in-person open days are cancelled, for many institutions, prospectuses have ended up - quite literally - in the skip. 

Even pre-COVID, the need for the prospectus has been subject to debate for a long time. As Lizzie Burrows, interim director of marketing, student recruitment and admissions at the University of Surrey pointed out, “we [the sector] have been talking about it [the end of prospectuses] for ten years.”

And, in that time, at some institutions, the traditional prospectus has begun to evolve into a much smaller, slimmer version of what it once was. For many, it’s become more of a mini-guide to the university with fewer copies being printed than ever before. 

Which has been good news for trees, as Lizzie explained, “we reduced our traditional prospectus to a ‘guide’ for 2021, saving about 42 tonnes of paper - a significant contribution to Surrey’s sustainability targets.”

Despite this, there’s still demand for the prospectus, particularly internationally. As Angelina Bingley, director of admissions, recruitment and marketing at the University of East Anglia explains, that as other countries continue to have face-to-face meetings and “as territories open up, they will need collateral.”  

In the UK, although some have moved to an entirely digital format, a significant number of careers advisors and schools continue to request hardcopies. 

So, although some say we’re “very close to the death of the prospectus”, it’s not with the dodos quite yet. 

For the moment, as Priti Patel, assistant director of marketing and communications: UKSR and widening participation at Queen Mary University of London says, “they still have a role to play.” So, they're here to stay a little longer, albeit in leaner forms and smaller print runs. 

Kenon Man, head of digital marketing and creative services at Swansea University think print may even be due a resurgence next year, “I expect traditional marketing tactics to make a comeback. I think direct mail will be the jewel of any marketing campaign.” 

Perhaps we’ll see a revival of the printed prospectus when the pandemic restrictions ease and UCAS fairs and in-person open days pick up - if indeed they will.

What’s certain is, without UCAS fairs and traditional open days, the imperative for the prospectus to be produced in the way it has been for decades has gone. 

Have you called time on your glossy prospectus? Or do you think they add a level of authority that can’t be replaced by digital media? Let us know on Linkedin or Twitter.

Whether you are producing a full prospectus or a slimmed-down version this year, you need to think about the kind of content that will appear to the COVID-affected cohorts coming through, talk to us about how we can help your teams produce content that works.