Universities
Add significant value to the student experience, progression and outcomes.
Delivering Better Student Outcomes
Our passion for ‘delivering better student outcomes’ just got even stronger. In 2022 we are developing transformational, cost-effective new student support services to focus on helping students at partner universities to:
We have worked with more than 30 UK universities and have helped more than 1 million students to get the support and study related resources they need to make the best of their time at university.
We are now working even harder to understand our university partners so that together we can develop, source and deliver a wide and diverse range of responsive, cost-effective education resources; whatever it takes to ensure student success and reduce barriers to learning.
We will be at the forefront of developing workable strategies to help graduates from the least advantaged families and communities thrive in the jobs market. We are bringing together experts, policy-makers, innovators, smart employers, ambitious students, and forward-thinking universities.
All parties will benefit. The initial focus will be on working in partnership to scope, develop and implement innovative new employability services at every stage of the student journey.
Our new services are being built around our current work turning existing financial incentives and awards (such as bursaries, scholarships and hardship funds) into tailored and effective engagement schemes.
The JS Group is a trusted family business with a set of strong university partners and a rich heritage that can be traced back to the opening of the John Smith bookshop at the University of Glasgow in 1751.
Diversity into Work
As part of our strategic expansion, we are developing a ground-breaking new initiative to improve employability outcomes for students from under represented socioeconomic groups. There is strong evidence to suggest that students from the least advantaged families and communities do not thrive in the jobs market and face significant barriers to career success. Our focus will be on working in partnership with students, founding corporates, employers, universities and other experts to scope, develop and implement innovative new services at all stages of the student journey to support the graduate employment outcomes of students.
How we do it
We work to fully understand our university partners so that together we can develop, source and deliver engagement schemes that support student success and reduce barriers to learning. Our approach is to bring expertise in three areas to each and every partnership:
Technology
Our Aspire technology platform is the core system we have developed to manage accounts for each student.
Engagement Partners
Based on campus, our Engagement Partners work with the university to deliver maximum benefit to students.
Data and Insight
Our data team provide reporting on how schemes support retention, recruitment, and OfS requirements.
Our Schemes
Our expert and agile staff work with universities to create and deliver the best scheme or service and each scheme we help create and deliver is based on tried and tested frameworks that are adapted and developed for each setting, student population, institutional strategy and regulatory requirements. We also provide ongoing support to ensure the required outcomes are achieved.
Engagement Schemes
These schemes are designed to allow the maximum student choice and flexibility around a framework we help you create that’s right for you – from learning resources through to clubs and societies
Resource Schemes
These schemes enable academics to specify educational resources such as eBooks, tablets, and other key materials which we then provide directly to cohorts of students.
The schemes support student study and we also run specific schemes with partner universities to address issues such as digital poverty and mental wellbeing.
Blended Schemes
Many of the universities we partner with want to have schemes that either provide both funds and resources to students or that provide some students with funds and others with resources. We can design a blended scheme to your requirements as our philosophy is that the best scheme is the one that makes the most difference for your students.
Many universities run these schemes alongside their cash bursaries and we can manage the delivery of both reducing administrative complexity and cost as well as provide invaluable feedback.
Our Partner Universities
