Group-57-5 Higher Education Market Research
Expert Insight for Universities

Higher Education Market Research

The higher education sector is increasingly competitive and fast-moving. Universities must
communicate their strengths clearly, differentiate their faculties and programmes, and meet
the evolving expectations of students from the UK and overseas.


Success depends on strong branding, clear academic identity and the ability to deliver a
student experience that supports both personal and academic development.

What Is Higher Education Market
Research?

Higher education market research helps universities understand how prospective and current
students, parents, academics and employers perceive their institution and make decisions.
Using qualitative, quantitative and behavioural methods, it provides evidence to guide brand
positioning, recruitment strategy, course development, marketing communications and
student experience improvements.

Benefits of Higher Education Market
Research

Market research gives universities the insight needed to strengthen their brand, attract the
right students and deliver a more compelling academic and campus experience.

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Strengthen Branding and Positioning

Research clarifies how your university, faculty or department is perceived and what differentiates it, helping you communicate strengths and academic identity with greater clarity and impact.

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Attract the Right Students

Insights reveal what prospective students value most, from course content to accommodation and lifestyle, helping shape propositions and messages that improve applications, conversion and yield.

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Enhance Course Appeal

Understanding what students expect from programmes, delivery styles and outcomes enables more relevant course design and clearer subject-level positioning.

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Improve Student Lifestyle and Experience

Research captures expectations around accommodation, wellbeing support, social life and community, guiding improvements that strengthen satisfaction, belonging and retention.

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Support International Recruitment

Insights into international student motivations and barriers help universities refine global messaging, support services and value propositions to compete more effectively worldwide.

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Higher Education Research Methods

BrandSpeak blends qualitative, quantitative and ethnographic research methods to enable
universities to understand how students and stakeholders think, decide and engage, providing
a robust evidence base for confident decision-making.

Focus Groups & Depth Interviews

Explore audience needs, perceptions and behaviours in rich qualitative detail.

Secondary Research & Market Intelligence

Identify market trends, competitor activity and category insights using desk research.

Online Surveys

Capture robust, statistically reliable feedback to quantify attitudes and behaviours at scale.

Statistical Modelling & Data Analytics

Turn complex data into clear insight, revealing patterns, drivers and opportunities

Online Communities

Gather deeper insight through multi-day discussions, tasks and real-world activities.

Ethnography & Observational Research

Observe real-life behaviour to understand authentic actions, needs and decision-making moments.

Higher Education Research Services

Our higher education research services focus on helping universities strengthen their brand, attract the right students and deliver an experience that supports academic and personal success. Key examples include:

How to Get Your Insights

We support qualitative research in 40+ global markets, working with native-speaking moderators and trusted in-market partners to ensure cultural accuracy and insight quality. Wherever your audience is, we can reach them and deliver insight that drives better decisions.

Step One

Fill in the form and click submit.

Step Two

Our team will contact you within 24 hours.

Step Three

We learn about your needs and goals and how to achieve them.

BrandSpeak in Numbers

A quick snapshot of the scale and experience we bring to every project.

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Focus Groups

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Years

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Quantitative Studies

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International Markets

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Survey Participants

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Languages Covered in Global Research

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Depth Interviews

BrandSpeak is proud to be a member of both The Association for Qualitative Research (AQR) and The Market Research Society (MRS) — demonstrating our commitment to quality, ethical practice and industry-leading research standards.

BrandSpeak Blogs

Client Feedback

We partner with ambitious clients and capture their stories.

Logos-9-1 Higher Education Market Research

We worked with Brandspeak on a brand awareness project and we were extremely pleased with the quality of service and the process. They understood the complexity of the briefs and asked plenty of questions to make sure they fully understand the objectives. They interacted with all levels of people in our business and understood the differences within the market and suggested ways to tie the research together so it was still comparable. The results were delivered with easy to digest summaries that could be used across the business. We would highly recommend using them. 

Lauren Williams

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Very informative, easy to work with and a really friendly team. I would recommend Brandspeak to help any business grow. They are great quality for money, help niche sectors and present their findings in an understanding manner. They have provided a brand review, market review post-covid to ensure we are still up to date, along with two very valuable website reviews. Working with them for qualitative and quantities research has a been fantastic for us. Thank you for all your help!

Sarah Twist – Marketing Manager

Toaster_Blue Higher Education Market Research

It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Brandspeak on our qualitative assessment of different ads across 5 EU markets. Throughout this project, Brandspeak have been expert, professional and so flexible with our requirements and timings. The research analysis that they provided us with was extremely valuable and insightful. I look forward to working with them again – highly recommend! 

Zanya Fahy

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Great service from Brandspeak – highly recommend for thoughtful and detailed brand measurement and tracking.

Georgie Burks, Brand Marketing Lead

Brandspeak recently conducted a complex and sensitive piece of research for us across the US, China, India and Europe. The work was carried out with the utmost professionalism (particular thanks to Jen!) and has provided us with invaluable insights that exceeded our expectations. A great team to work with and thoroughly recommended!

Tom Green

We wanted to understand how elements of our brand were perceived by consumers and identify opportunities where we could make improvements. Brandspeak clearly understood the brief and worked closely with us to develop a research approach that would answer our questions. The insight has been used to inform the development of our creative and also applied to other areas of our marketing communications. It was a pleasure to work with Brandspeak.

Strategy & Insight Manager | Animal Friends Insurance

Tonnjes_Blue Higher Education Market Research

Brandspeak helped us with getting invaluable market insights! They showed great flexibility and professionalism throughout the entire process and provided us exactly with the results we needed. I would recommend working with Brandspeak to anyone and anytime.

Tom Suberg

From the moment I contacted Brandspeak I can’t thank Jeremy and his team enough. Offering a professional approach they took the time and effort to make the whole process easy and effortless. I highly recommend Brandspeak and look forward to working with them again in the future.

Verity Kimber

From their initial proposal they displayed an understanding of financial services and a clarity of thinking that made them stand out. Since then they have consistently delivered to demanding timescales. But what really sets them apart are their actionable and business focused recommendations which give them the credibility to influence senior internal stakeholders. I have really enjoyed working with them and look forward to doing so again.

Leading life and pensions provider

It is always a pleasure – and a relief! – to work with researchers who get the whole thing – effortlessly… a heartfelt thanks.

DLKW

Work with BrandSpeak

With offices across major cities we provide global reach with local expertise.

London

+44 (0) 203 858 0052

1st Floor, 239 Kensington High St, London W8 6SN

Bristol

+44 (0) 1174 07 0187

2430 / 2440 The Quadrant, Aztec West, Bristol BS32 4AQ

Birmingham

+44 (0) 121 314 4647

The Lewis Building, Bull St, Birmingham B4 6AF