From Prospectuses to Peer Voices: What Students Really Want

When I was choosing a university years ago, my decision was guided by glossy prospectuses, staged photographs, and open days that felt perfectly choreographed. I carried home tote bags brimming with booklets, flicking through endless lists of facilities and rankings, trying to picture what life would really be like.

Now, standing on the other side as a higher education marketer, I’m constantly reminded how dramatically the landscape has shifted. Universities are moving away from printed prospectuses, often replacing them with QR codes, digital hubs, and social content. Budget pressures have accelerated this, but there’s another reason. Students live in a digital world, and they expect information in formats that feel immediate, real, and interactive.

And here’s what surprised me most when I started talking to them. They don’t want to hear from the university. They want to hear from students, people who have actually lived it.

Why authentic voices matter

At UCAS fairs and on campus, I’ve lost count of how many times students skip over rankings and facilities to ask the questions that really matter,

• A second-year English Literature student, told me,

“I didn’t care about the library or the campus photos. I just wanted to know if people actually felt happy here, if you’d fit in.”

• Someone studying Mechanical Engineering, said,

“The course pages made it sound amazing, but I didn’t trust them until I saw a student video showing the labs. That’s when it clicked, like, okay, this is real.”

• A postgraduate Data Science student from overseas, shared,

“Moving countries was terrifying. I watched every student vlog I could find. I wanted to see the city at night, check if it felt safe, if people were friendly. That mattered more than anything on the website.”

These voices are raw, candid, and vulnerable. They reveal what prospectuses and key facts pages can’t capture, the human side of university life, the nerves, the doubts, the moments of joy. And that matters, because choosing a university is often the scariest, most life-defining decision a young person will ever make. For many, it’s the furthest they’ve been from home, the first time they’re fully independent, and a moment filled with both excitement and fear.

The shift from print to digital is an opportunity

The decline of printed prospectuses is often framed as a cost-saving exercise. From my perspective, it’s also an opportunity. QR codes and digital platforms allow universities to create richer, more dynamic content, including student-led videos, day-in-the-life blogs, Instagram takeovers, and TikToks. These aren’t just marketing gimmicks, they’re a way to share the human side of university life, the unpolished and authentic reality that students actually relate to.

From my work across multiple education providers, I’ve seen the institutions that make the biggest impact aren’t the ones shouting about world-class facilities or rankings. They’re the ones saying,

“Here’s Anna, a first-year Engineering student, talking about her first group project. Here’s Sam, a Computing student, sharing the moment they almost dropped out, and why they stayed.”

That’s the content students engage with. That’s what they trust.

What students actually want

Different students have different needs, and understanding those nuances is crucial.

• Humanities students often want reassurance about employability,

“Everyone kept asking, ‘What job will you get with that?’ Hearing from older students in interesting careers made me relax.”

• STEM students care about hands-on experience,

“It’s cool that the labs are new, but I just wanted to hear from someone who actually uses them.”

• International students want to feel supported and part of a community,

“I needed to know I’d be okay living so far from home. Videos of other students going through the same thing helped me feel less alone.”

• Undergraduates vs. postgraduates: UGs want reassurance about fitting in and daily life, while PGs are more focused on return on investment and career outcomes.

Listening to these perspectives has made me realise that authentic, peer-led storytelling isn’t just good marketing. It’s essential care.

How universities can adapt

From my experience, there are three key ways universities can make marketing genuinely helpful and resonant.

1. Empower students as storytellers

   Blogs, videos, takeovers, and podcasts created by students themselves carry credibility that institutional marketing can’t match.

2. Segment messaging by audience

   Different groups need different reassurance. UGs, PGs, international students, and parents all have distinct priorities.

3. Balance inspiration with honesty

   Show facilities, rankings, and research opportunities, but always ground them in the real student experience, including challenges as well as successes.

Trust is the new currency

After years of listening to students, parents, and alumni, I’ve come to one simple truth. Trust matters more than glossy marketing. Prospective students are making life-defining decisions in a turbulent world of budget cuts, visa changes, and global competition. They need reassurance, honesty, and human connection.

Universities that step back from polished messaging and hand the mic to their students will not only build trust, they will create communities, inspire confidence, and help students make decisions that are right for them.

Because at the end of the day, a prospectus can tell you about the size of a library. A student can tell you whether they’re actually happy there.