An interview with Study Group partner Global Study UK

An interview with Study Group partner Global Study UK

As part of Study Group’s new blog Spotlight Series, we are delighted to share an interview with Amer Mourad, Company Director, Global Study UK. Global Study UK are a Study Group Agent Premier Club Gold Winner.

Q1: How do you feel about winning an Agent Premier Club award?

It was an exciting moment when we learned that we had won the award. We believe this to be a recognition and appreciation of Global Study UK’s hard work and success, acknowledging the efforts of our counselling teams who look after and care for our students, always offering the right choices for them. The Award represents an achievement of ours and an encouragement pushing us to thrive.

Q2: Could you share what the past year has been like in terms of international student recruitment - highlighting challenges and how you managed to turn things around?

The pandemic no-doubt posed challenges, the uncertainty of the situation caused angst among the students and their parents. It was our expert counsellors who excelled in their customer service, reassuring our students and their parents throughout this period, keeping them updated on what was happening in the UK, how their course would be delivered and allaying their fears.

Global Study UK was not stopped by the pandemic, utilising our Teams skill sets to develop alternative ways to connect and deliver our services to students. We used the reach of our Social Media platforms, such as IGTV, to counter the negative press that the UK was receiving in International News, providing our students with a first-person perspective of what was happening in the UK and showing students that we are still here to actively help them in every way we can.

Global Study UK’s events, like everyone else, were affected as Institution representatives were not able to travel in-country. Global Study UK reacted by hosting a combination of Hybrid Fairs and Virtual Fairs to engage and connect to students and deliver to them the information and service that they expect.

The Hybrid Fairs recreated the physical fairs that should have taken place, by connecting students to over 40 Institutions per event via Video link. Each Exhibitor had their own physical stand, as in a normal event, allowing students to engage with the institution stand and talk to the representative via video call.

The virtual fairs took place on a virtual platform that Global Study UK invested in, recreating a virtual exhibition event, again allowing students to connect with institutions where hybrid events could not take place. Global Study UK were proud to deliver our entire schedule of events to students in the MENA region delivering to them the service that they have become accustomed to and expect from us.

Through our determination and the support and information we provided to our students, Global Study UK saw substantial growth despite the pandemic.

Q3: What is your view on the future of education?

Face-to-face will always be the most effective way of providing education, and to study abroad from the home country is not just about attending lectures, it is also about the whole experience. Learning from all aspects about different things, such as within the classroom to daily life in a different country, absorbing the culture is vital and we know that students and their parents think the same way as we do. However, we do understand that the online study method was essential during this Pandemic, to give students an alternative to start their chosen degree path and not suffer delays in their education.

Q4: What is your view of the partnership with Study Group?

Working with Study Group is a beneficial partnership as the range of institutions that Study Group works with provides us with an all-around portfolio when offering university options to students. Global Study UK would especially like to thank Irina and Robert for supporting us, being helpful and always being available for us, they deal with our enquiries in an efficient manner, we are very grateful to be working with them.

As Robert Hanna, Study Group Area Director for EMEA comments:

“We are amazed by Global Study UK’s forward-thinking and highly innovative approach, which has enabled them to successfully navigate through COVID-19 to provide the best possible support and guidance to international students and their parents. 

“Global Study UK are incredibly high performing and student centric – consistently matching students to university programmes, which met their needs, preferences and academic credentials. 

“The international student experience they provide is exceptional and Study Group is very proud to partner with Global Study UK.”