“I worked with Rob for 7 years at Leeds Beckett, where he transformed the experience for our prospective students and applicants through our recruitment events and became a valuable and trusted advisor to both our academic and student recruitment staff.
Working with Rob has been revelatory for me and many colleagues in my Faculty who are involved in leading and delivering recruitment events, especially Open Days and Applicant Days.
Rather than focussing on small details of presentations (font size etc.), Rob has invited us to undertake a process of self-examination and inner renewal, rebuilding confidence in the strength of our entire offer at UEA. Rob's work began with a well-attended Faculty-wide presentation in January 2024 when he introduced to us his concept of The Gift. This is what we need to aspire to give to our students when they attend an Open Day. As I understand it, essentially The Gift is quite simply the answer to this question - 'why should you study X at UEA?'. But the strength of this concept is the particular way that Rob framed this within the wider context of the pressure students are under at schools and colleges when making their decisions on university choices. In other words, The Gift needs to be something powerful enough to answer that question within the context of the strength of feeling prompted by contemporary questions over the value of university as a whole and the push towards the RG. It also needs to be able to resonate within networks of 17-year-old students so that they can become our advocates. But this is no easy thing to achieve - and pious platitudes or generalities aren't anywhere near enough to cut through to that age group in this context. Therefore, this search for The Gift -where colleagues have really undertaken it - has enabled truly honest conversations and reflection about each subject's distinctiveness.
Rob has followed through his inspiring first meeting with the Faculty as a whole (which was very well received by colleagues across the Faculty, which is not a given!) with several detailed conversations with colleagues in key leadership roles (especially our School's Admissions Directors) in order to continue pressing forward this process of self-reflection.
What has enabled this to work particularly effectively is that Rob's manner is always supportive and encouraging, recognising that the best performances at recruitment events emerge from a position of confidence and self-belief. Rob has also provided exactly the right kind of updates and advice to me in my academic leadership role, giving intelligence from schools and colleges that has helped to frame our approach to Open Days.
One thing I think he's helped us to see is that we need to get the level of detail right at Open Days - it's easy to become too granular and to lose sight of the overall story we're telling about the subject ('making the students the hero of their own story' has been another of Rob's valuable injunctions that has resonated with me and my staff).
I am greatly looking forward to continuing to work with Rob in building a truly thoughtful, positive, and self-reflective culture around Admissions, and would highly recommend him to any institution seeking to undertake a similar journey.
- Thomas Roebuck UEA
Rob never fails to immediately engage his audience whether he is providing support for the creation of the perfect personal statement, or enhancing the effectiveness of a job application. His unique presentation style (a cross between serious university admissions tutor and stand-up comedian) pulls in even the most passive participants and ensures that his top tips and advice are memorable for every pupil. Rob is knowledgeable, always fully aware of the latest developments and issues within the HE sector and job markets, and crucially, understands young people, their concerns and potential misconceptions about this process. His workshops are always full of relevant and thought-provoking information, allowing pupils to gain a valuable insight into the world of the admissions tutor or employer, and all delivered with high levels of energy and warmth.
I highly recommend Rob's work. He has conducted outstanding workshops for our colleagues, specifically centred around enhancing customer experience and promoting our courses. Rob has successfully established strong and positive relationships with our academic colleagues. His professionalism and ability to effectively engage his audience are commendable. One of the key strengths of Rob's approach is his ability to view things from a student's perspective, encouraging participants to think critically about the most effective ways to showcase our courses. It was clear that an enormous amount of effort had gone into the preparation of the sessions. What stood out most were the actionable insights gleaned from the discussions. Each session offered practical takeaways that attendees could implement in their own presentations. In short, these sessions provided tremendous value for money. They equipped participants with both knowledge and confidence to deliver excellent open day and applicant day presentations.
"The feedback we get from students when he has been speaking or running workshops is 100% positive. As well as being informative about any aspect of Higher Education you care to pick, he is hugely funny, engaging and raises aspirations by making the kids see what they are capable of and that University really is for someone like them. He also gives really down-to earth, useful advice about personal statements and what you should and shouldn't include on a UCAS form."
As another UCAS application deadline looms upon us and Student Recruitment teams have approximately three minutes before it all starts again, I thought it would be a good time to…
As the careers adviser at Franklin College I have known Rob Rattray for nearly two years. Rob has been to the college several times both as a contributor at our annual careers fair and to run personal statement workshops. Rob Rattray was one of three representatives from different universities to deliver the workshops at college last year. The feedback from students on Rob’s workshops was excellent and by far the most positive. The students came away enthused and crucially with some really good ideas on how to get started on their personal statements. His entertaining, easy, no nonsense manner means he connects well with young people. He readily agreed to our request to come back into college again ahead of our internal UCAS deadline to do some individual work with students. I am pleased to be able to recommend him highly to you.
Rob was brilliant and has made a huge impact with our students. The daytime workshops were very well attended and I have received excellent feedback form our students who are now making excellent progress with their UCAS applications and course research. The sessions for parents were also very well received and those parents now feel much more empowered and informed regarding higher education for their sons and daughters. Being located in a remote, rural and coastal community presents us with significant challenges when arranging high quality information and guidance for our students and their families. It is extremely important that we can continue to ensure that our students receive the very best advice, guidance and support. This is only possible when working in partnership with organisations like yours and we value the support you give us and our community very highly. I look forward to continuing to develop our links with your organisation and look forward to working with you and Rob again in the near future. Michelle Waudby , Progression Coordinator, Caedmon College, Whitby
Even with a string of A and A* grades under their belts, some teenagers failed to secure a university place in what was arguably the toughest year yet for A-level…