IDP transforming international student recruitment with FastLane

IDP, the global leader in international education services, is transforming its international student recruitment offering with FastLane, a service where students can receive an in-principle offer from their chosen institution, in many cases, six times faster than standard applications. 

Since launching FastLane in late 2021, 27 UK and Australian institutions have signed up to use the FastLane service, benefiting prospective international students with a streamlined application process, improved matching that benefits both students and counsellors, and expedited offer times once the right course is selected.  

Accessible through the app and now across IDP offices, FastLane invites students to share their study goals and current qualifications. Upon completing this academic profile, students are matched to courses they are eligible to apply for based on the rules the institution has set. If they want to proceed, students can receive an in-principle offer from their chosen institution within 30 minutes of submission. 

This transformative real-time response means students only apply to courses where they know they meet the institution entry criteria, greatly reducing the number of applications they make, whilst institutions receive higher quality applications, more quickly. 

For example, students using the FastLane service to apply to UK Russell Group institutions have on average received an offer six times faster, cutting the time from 30 days to five days.  

“Simon Emmett, CEO of IDP Connect, said: “It’s really exciting to be at the forefront of something that has never been done in international education. FastLane is already delivering transformative change and sophisticated matching for our students.    

“Meanwhile, our counsellors are able to see if students are matched already to an organisation that they’re most likely to be successful in based on their objectives. FastLane is a game-changer and students’ finalised applications and entry into institutions are taking minutes as opposed to weeks.”

University partners also benefit in a variety of ways, including improved efficiencies among admissions teams, recruitment of more highly qualified international students, diversification and acceleration of the recruitment process.

Since the launch of the service in October 2021, 11 UK institutions including University of Edinburgh, University of Birmingham and University of York, and 16 Australian institutions, including RMIT, UNSW and University of South Australia have been onboarded and are already seeing positive results. 

Danielle Fitzgerald, Director of the Future Student Office at the University of Leicester, says of FastLane: “For us it was a bit of a no-brainer to leverage IDP’s global network and go with a product that supports students who are ready and prepared, giving them the VIP service that they wouldn’t necessarily get if they were doing a direct application from those countries where we don’t have a lot of representation at present. 

“I think the counsellor, even with this great initiative and piece of tech, is still key as part of this journey and for us it’s an opportunity to really build that relationship with the counsellors and ensure that we’re transmitting the best information to our students.” 

IDP’s student counsellors remain at the centre of FastLane’s success. They offer a human-centred approach and personalised support that help prospective students make the right higher education decisions. 

IDP Student Counsellor, Barsha Kansakar (Nepal office), says: “IDP’s technology has made my role as a counsellor much easier and has allowed me to work more efficiently. I can shortlist courses that match the profile of my students and give them the best-suited options. I am able to provide fast-tracked services to them, which has made conversations between me and my students much more enriching.” 

IDP continues to work with students and institutions to adapt and co-create FastLane with the service expanding to Canada soon.  

Nicole Gauci - Porter Novelli, ngauci@porternovelli.com.au, +61 427 696 957  

Jonah Duffin – IDP Connect, jonah.duffin@idp.com , +44 7961 576 024  

IDP is a leader in global education services. As an Australian listed company, IDP operates in more than 50 countries and its websites attract 100 million visits a year. 

IDP specialise in combining human expertise with a leading digital platform to help people get accepted into their ideal course, take an English language test or learn English in their schools.  

IDP’s teams work side by side with their customers every day, at every step from course search through to starting their dream course or career.  

IDP’s data insights are relied upon by organisations around the world to help ensure policies are informed by the diverse needs, challenges and motivations of students.  

Most of all, IDP are proud of its people. It is their trusted people and processes that help their customers turn their study or English goals into a launchpad for their career.