Case Study: Plymouth College of Art maximises new course success with Savanta

Plymouth College of Art maximises course success with Savanta using 1,000-student research

The Plymouth College of Art, a specialist art school, faced the challenge of ensuring new course titles would resonate with prospective students and effectively communicate content. To maximise recruitment and attraction, they needed deeper insight into how prospective arts students make their university and course choices. They engaged the vendor Savanta (through its YouthSight service) for this market research.

Savanta implemented a mixed-method research approach, combining a community forum with a large quantitative survey. They delivered a detailed report and a client workshop, resulting in a lasting '6 pillar' methodology toolkit for testing course titles. The research provided a blueprint for course development, identifying top-performing titles and key decision drivers. College Principal Andrew Brewerton hailed it as one of the most useful and impactful pieces of research they had commissioned, with the findings continuing to guide course development and inform marketing a year later.

Plymouth College of Art