1. Preparing students for university and career
success
Steve Smith, President of Advising & Admissions Solutions, Hobsons, 7 May 2017

2. Our mission
Our mission is to empower
students to connect learning
to life by making informed
choices across a lifetime of
education decisions.
Connecting Learning to Life

3. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Support All Students
& Families
Track & Measure
Progress
Why We’re Here
• 'Kitty Cat'
• 'Fixer'
• 'Beast Master'
• 'Pop Princess'
• 'Dinosaur'
• 'Ninja Warrior'
• 'Hedge Fund Manager'
• 'Gold Miner'
• 'Taller'
Fatherly Imagination Report, 2015 c500
responses

4. …same question (kids in the UK between 7-10)
Support All Students
& Families
Track & Measure
Progress
Why We’re Here
Girls
1. Vet (26%)
2. Teacher (17%)
3. Engineer (11%)
4. Doctor
5. Baker
Boys
1. Footballer (23%)
2. Inventor (12%)
3. Policeman (11%)
4. Builder
5. Engineer
Reed.co.uk, 2017 c250 responses

5. …there’s a serious point
Support All Students
& Families
Track & Measure
Progress
Why We’re Here
• Less than half (48%) of students could be classified
as "hopeful," meaning they have abundant ideas and
energy for the future;;
• More than one in three (37%) students polled were
classified as "stuck" -­-­ meaning they have few ideas
and little momentum for their future;;
• More than one in seven (15%) were classified as
"discouraged," meaning they lack ideas and energy
and may have negative conceptualisations of the
future;; Gallup Australia Survey, 2016 c11k responses
from 34 schools

6. Where To Start?
Why We’re Here
The
School
Cliff:
Students’
Engagement
Drops
Over
Time
%
Engaged
Key
Stage
2 Key
Stage
3 Key
Stage
4
76
61
44

7. Bridging the Gap
Why We’re Here
ASPIRATIONS ACHIEVEMENT
ACHIEVEMENT
Achievement
sometimes falls short
of those aspirations
ASPIRATIONS
Students and parents
have high aspirations
for university and
careers

8. Why We’re Here
Impacting Engagement
Increase in
likelihood of
engagement
When schools increase
engagement by one
percentage point
30x
Percentage
point increase
in reading
achievement
+6
When schools focus on
student strengths and they
have at least one teacher
that makes them excited
about the future
Percentage
point increase
in math
achievement
+8
70%
Engagement
level of hopeful
students
When students have hope
for their future, their
engagement levels rise
significantly
Source: Gallup

9. Self-Discovery
Career
Exploration
Academic
Planning
University
Preparation
University and career readiness for all

10. Naviance Quick Stats
Naviance is the world’s most widely adopted university and career readiness platform
11k Schools
With Naviance
9M Students
Using Naviance
32M Documents
Sent to Universities
(2016)
765 International
Schools
With a Naviance
account (2017)

11. …our international student survey
Support All Students
& Families
Track & Measure
Progress
Why We’re Here
Hobsons ISS, 2015 (47k total responses)

12. Student success is not easy
Who am I?
How will I succeed?
What do I want to be?
How will I get there?
What do I care about?
What are my talents?
How do I learn?
Who will support me?
What resources will help me
reach my goals?
Which career path will I enjoy?
What education is required?
What’s my plan for success?
Where should I go after
secondary school?

13. Educators have similar struggles
Who are our
students?
How do we know
what’s working?
How are we
helping them?
What could we
do better?

14. UK University Application Timeframe
MarchJanuary June
Most
courses
Arts &
Design
October
Deadline
for offers
Oxbridge
Deadlines for applications
?

15. Starting early is
important
KS 3
KS 3
KS 3
KS 4
KS 4
KS 4
KS 4

16. The Secondary Student Lifecycle
• Career Based Assessments
• Roadtrip Nation
• University Research Tools
University and
Career Exploration
Self-Discovery
Student support
University Applications
Student Matching
Academic Planning
6 Dimensions of Readiness
• Individual Plans for Students
• University Admission Requirements
• Scholarships
• Enrichment Opportunities
• Student and Family
Engagement
• Sending applications electronically
Psychometric Assessments
• StrengthsExplorer by Gallup
• Learning Style Inventory

17. Career Guidance
Self-discovery
Assessment
Results
Linking assessment
results to career options
Career research
information
Career exploration

18. Inspire Your Students!
RoadTrip Nation Video Archive
1
2
3
Students learn from leaders
3,500+ videos with themes like
Success, Perseverance, Choices, and
Courage
Interviews with CEOs and Fortune
500 companies, journalists, sports
writers, political activists and more!

20. Apply to US universities
2,000+
Top-ranked US colleges
• Manage the entire college
application process from one
place
• Save money by sending
transcripts and other
documents electronically
• No risk of documents getting
“lost in the mail”
Less Paperwork, More
People Work
unlimited
Transcript Submissions
one-stop
shop
College Research Database
SuperMatch™
college search
Acceptance History
College Match
Easy access to American institutions
34.5 million
applications tracked
4.6 million
documents sent
The Common
Application
Parchment

21. The Educator’s Perspective
Support All Students
& Families
Track & Measure
Progress
Make Data-Driven
Decisions
Provide all students with the
same critical university and
career information
Identify students needing
support and track results year-
over-year
Use data to determine results for
specific students and groups
Why We’re Here

22. Bridge
the
gap
by
connecting
learning
to
life
Readiness Gap: Completing secondary school makes students eligible for university, but many fall short
of being truly university-ready.
Match Gap: Students often struggle to find best-fit post-secondary options that meet their
academic, social, and financial needs.
Success Gap: Even well-prepared students face obstacles in finishing what they start.