Introducing Clearing Stats, a Net Natives Production

    BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, December 03, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Whilst working on ClearingStats.com, a new website exclusive to UK Universities - created by Net Natives in conjunction with Google (as part of their trusted Google Partnership Status), Net Natives found that there have been dramatic shifts in behaviour amongst students during the Clearing period.

The biggest was the impact of mobile, with an overall 82% increase in "Clearing" related searches from a mobile phone, across the UK.

The 'Search League Table' (available at ClearingStats.com) shows how Universities ranked in Google Searches from July-September 2014 and the impact of mobile search.

St Mary's University College saw a 50% decline in searches for the institution from a desktop (the most for any UK University), during the key Clearing period (July to September). This was compounded by a decline in mobile (-22%) and tablet searches (-45%).

However searches from a mobile or tablet device more than doubled for Courtauld Institute of Art, Bishop Grosseteste University and The Royal Veterinary College, for 2013 to 2014.

"Tablet use has followed a trend recently seen in the consumer market, with little growth across the UK, apart from Hereford, where tablet searches outperformed both mobile and desktop."
ClearingStats.com allows UK education institutions to interact with a map of the UK to see where the greatest opportunities are for attracting students during Clearing.

Topping the 'Clearing by City' charts ahead of Lisburn, Bangor and Derry (+250% increase in mobile search); Newry, Northern Ireland saw a mammoth 1540% increase in mobile search but also saw an increase in students searching for "Clearing" related terms overall; up four times over 2013.

Canterbury, Durham and Peterborough also saw an increase in "Clearing" searches across all devices, with mobile again seeing the greatest growth (90%, 70% and 110% respectively).

At course level, Clearing Stats' 'Course Searches in Clearing' found that there are major differences to the popularity of common Clearing course types, with search volume varying dramatically between July to September.

Net Natives (the Certified Google Partner agency) found a shift in search behaviour in 2014, with a decline in course searches in September being matched by increases in July and August, as students got stuck into Clearing early on in the process.

Net Natives Digital Director, Don Skinner commented on the findings:

"The rising importance of a mobile strategy in Clearing should be of no surprise to university marketing teams. We've been seeing an increase in the presence and importance of mobile for some time now.

"What's really interesting from these stats is the change in student behaviour when it comes to when and how they search. There's clear evidence that the search for Clearing courses is happening before A-Level results are even released, and universities need to make sure their marketing strategies account for that.

"For the past two years we've been recommending to all of our clients that they start their Clearing activity in July and have mobile specific strategies for all digital campaigns."

Net Natives collected data from Google, Facebook, UCAS and Quantcast to create ClearingStats.com, a new website for universities to help them better prepare for Clearing 2015.

About ClearingStats.com

ClearingStats.com is exclusive to UK Universities, allowing them to benchmark themselves against competitors and understand where the greatest opportunities are for Clearing 2015.

Universities can access information that will help them identify where students are searching for Clearing; what courses they're searching for and what universities are most popular.

About Net Natives

Net Natives is the outcome focused digital marketing and advertising agency for higher education. Working with over 200 education institutions to increase enquiries from domestic, international and postgraduate students.

Specialists in digital advertising, Net Natives hold Google Partnership Status and employ more Google Qualified Professionals than any agency in the education sector. Net Natives have recently become the first agency outside of the US to become Facebook Business Partners, as a result of their work on social media.

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