University Application System — A Better Way to Apply

Problem

University Clearing is the UK's results day — the academic equivalent of Black Friday. For students who didn't get into their first choice university, it's a last chance to secure a place before vacancies fill up within hours. Already dealing with the disappointment of missed grades, these students then had to phone each university individually, managing multiple stressful conversations simultaneously under extreme time pressure — all while terrified of missing out entirely. On the other side, universities were spending heavily staffing call centres to handle the surge — a costly, inefficient operation that still left students frustrated and underserved. Everyone was losing, and no digital alternative existed.

Approach

I identified the opportunity, made the case internally, and led the project end-to-end — working closely with a team across design, engineering, and commercial to take it from concept to launch.

The commercial model was novel: institutions would pay per application received, creating a fresh revenue stream that didn't cannibalise the existing referral business. Getting internal buy-in for this required as much stakeholder management as the product work itself.

The hardest constraint was the deadline. Clearing happens on a single day each year — miss it and you wait another twelve months. Working with the team I kept scope tight and focus sharp, shipping a BETA first to run A/B tests and iron out issues before the high-stakes final launch. We hit the date.