Why the most valuable student decisions happen long before Freshers’ Week
Reaching students before university doesn’t just drive short‑term engagement, it builds long‑term brand loyalty.
For many brands, student marketing still means one thing: Freshers’ Week. Branded tote bags. Free pizza. A last‑minute scramble for visibility at a crowded fair.
But new research reveals a very different reality.
The most valuable student marketing window doesn’t open in September, it opens months earlier. And brands that wait until Freshers’ Week are often arriving after the most important decisions have already been made.
The moment brands are missing
Every year, over 550,000 young people leave home for university. It is one of the biggest life changes they will experience, and it reshapes how they think, spend, and choose.
During this transition, future students are 2.5 times more likely to try something new, with one in four discovering new brands before university even begins.
Our Finding Their Place 2025 study, surveying 4,320 students and their parents or guardians, reveals a crucial truth: student purchasing does not happen once. And it does not start in September.
The window is earlier than you think
1. Pre‑May: aspiration and planning
2. Early summer: preparation
3. Results Day to Freshers’: excitement and reassurance
Freshers’ Week rewards familiarity, not first impressions
Freshers’ Week offers brands reach and visibility, with 72% of first‑year students attending Freshers’ Fairs.
For brands, Freshers's Week is a moment to strengthen and build upon pre‑established connections with young people, rather than create new ones from scratch.
- Only 25% recall a brand standing out
- 58% do not discover any new brands
- 53% say interactions had no lasting impact
- Just 6% go on to purchase a brand they received as a freebie
Most telling of all, 79% of post‑Freshers’ purchases go to brands students already knew.
The brands that succeed are those that engaged earlier, when students were planning, preparing and emotionally engaged.
You’re marketing to a decision‑making unit, not a person
Another critical misconception in student marketing is who the audience actually is. Students do not make every decision alone.
The research shows three distinct purchase modes:
- Parents, carers and guardians buy the functional
Bedding, cookware, towels - the infrastructure of independent life - Students personalise the emotional
Room décor, lifestyle choices, items that help them feel like they belong - Tech is a joint decision
Often researched and bought together, in‑store, combining budget anxiety with performance needs
This means a single purchase can involve multiple emotional drivers and multiple decision‑makers.
And parental influence is significant
1. Financial contribution
2. Focus on independence
3. Social pressures
If you only speak to the student, you may be missing the person funding, or influencing, the purchase.
Why UCAS is uniquely placed in this window
Reaching students early means being present in a trusted space shared with parents and guardians. This is where UCAS plays a critical role.
- 30 million average monthly views across the summer
- 1.3 million people engage with UCAS every year
- 86% of students visit UCAS as their first or second action on Results Day
- 60.3% email open rate, versus an industry average of ~20%
- 60%+ reduction in wasted spend through a verified in‑market audience
- 239% higher engagement than brands’ own benchmarks
UCAS is trusted on a par with the NHS, and more than the BBC. When the messenger is trusted, the message works harder.
Through UCAS, brands can:
Build familiarity months before arrival
Reach students and parents, carers and guardians together
Align messaging to real student behaviour
Turn student insight into smarter campaigns
Students don’t switch off from decision‑making, and neither should your marketing. To convert attention into action, brands need insight that is deep, ethical, and grounded in real student behaviour.
UCAS gives you unmatched visibility into how students think and decide, helping your brand show up early, stay relevant, and connect in the moments that shape their future.