Unibuddy and IDP Education to Offer Peer Support to Prospective University Students

EdTech startup Unibuddy and IDP, the global leader in education services have announced a partnership to offer a peer-to-peer platform on IDP’s flagship websites.  

The Unibuddy Discover platform will be embedded on IDP’s flagship advice websites WhatUni.com and all Hotcourses international websites, each reaching millions of prospective students around the world every year.  

 The platform will allow UK and international prospective students to chat in real-time with current students at universities in the UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. They will be able to ask questions about anything from the halls of residence, to the workload, to the nightlife.  

Unibuddy and IDP partner with more than 800 universities, including King’s College London, NYU Tandon, and Erasmus University, who will be invited to feature their current student ambassadors on the platform.  

IDP is a global leader in international education with 100 million+ prospective students visiting their suite of student websites each year, helping international students study in English-speaking countries for more than 50 years. 

Simon Emmett, CEO of IDP Connect, said: “Everything we do at IDP Education is about putting students first. We are guided by the needs and interests of prospective students, and this has over the years ensured that we deliver the best service for them. I believe our new partnership with Unibuddy will deliver a service that is highly valued by prospective students: hearing directly from current students about their study experiences via real-time chats. 

“We are delighted to offer this free service to prospective students, supporting them as they choose their higher education options, one of the most important decisions of their lives. This partnership will also support our university partners, allowing them to showcase their student ambassadors and their experiences to an engaged audience of actively researching prospective students.”

The launch comes as demand grows for peer-to-peer support during the university application process. A study by Unibuddy and Intead found that 57% of students said speaking with an institution’s student ambassadors was the most helpful resource for choosing a university. 

Unibuddy’s partnership with IDP will be Unibuddy’s largest partnership to date and will support universities to reach prospective students at every stage of their journey to higher education: from pre-application to enrollment. On average, 51% of prospective students that use Unibuddy will apply to the institution they chatted with, suggesting that peer-to-peer support provides the information and reassurance prospective students need when deciding where to study.  

Unibuddy is the global market leader in digital student engagement. More than 1 million prospective students have chatted with student ambassadors via Unibuddy’s suite of products since the company launched in 2016.

Diego Farana, CEO and Co-Founder of Unibuddy, said: “Our partnership with IDP takes our student-first approach to recruitment to the next level. Now anyone considering their future in education has the chance to build meaningful connections with current university students and gain valuable insight and guidance before they take the plunge into their future.

“This represents a new milestone toward our mission to transform the way students and universities connect with one another. We’re giving our 500+ university partners another route to access prospective students from diverse backgrounds, and allowing every young person access to the best advice and guidance on their journey to higher education.

“This initiative is a win-win for institutions and students alike. Universities get to put their best foot forward: showcasing their student ambassadors and their experiences to an engaged audience. Prospective students get access to an authentic source of information through real-time chats with current students.”

This partnership brings together IDP’s vast reach and expertise with Unibuddy’s market-leading global digital student engagement. The Unibuddy Discover platform, which was launched in 2019, brings together ambassadors from a cross-section of universities and is embedded on trusted sources of information for prospective students.

The partnership between IDP and Unibuddy will further expand the peer-to-peer service to connect millions of additional prospective students to current students, enabling them to make more informed decisions as they choose their study options.

About Unibuddy

Unibuddy offers smarter student recruitment to higher education institutions through the facilitation of student-to-student interactions. Our suite of products enables prospective students to virtually connect with student ambassadors, staff, and other students along their decision-making journey through one-on-one chat, live events, and communities. In this way, Unibuddy extends, amplifies, and brings authenticity to the institution's recruitment, admissions, and retention efforts. Partnering with universities around the world since 2017, Unibuddy has helped more than one million students at more than 500 institutions feel supported in making crucial decisions about their higher education experience.

To learn more, visit www.unibuddy.com.

About IDP Education

IDP is a leader in global education services. As an Australian ASX-listed company, IDP operates in more than 50 countries, and its websites attract 100 million visits a year. IDP specialises in combining human expertise with a leading digital platform to help people get accepted into their ideal course, take an English language test, or learn English in our schools.  IDP’s teams are side by side with our customers every day, at every step from course search through to starting their dream course or career. IDP’s data insights are relied upon by organisations around the world to help ensure policies are informed by the diverse needs, challenges, and motivations of students. Most of all, we are proud of our people. It is our trusted people and processes which help our customers turn their study or English goals into a launchpad for their career.