The whole university application in one app
Built for first-time applicants on mid-range phones and unreliable connections, the people actually using it.
Context
Path2Uni advises students applying to universities overseas. Each student works through months of forms, documents and deadlines with a counsellor beside them. Traditionally that runs over email, messaging apps and a shared drive, held together by the consultancy.
The problem
How does a student know where they stand? Three problems compounded each other. Applications lived in an inbox, so no student could see which of theirs was waiting on them and which was waiting on a university. Documents arrived as photographs taken at an angle in bad light, and someone had to chase a usable copy. And every routine question (what happens next, what is still missing) went to a counsellor already answering it for thirty other students, which meant the questions that genuinely needed judgement waited behind the ones that did not.
What we did
The app targets a mid-range Android phone on a connection that drops. It opens to something useful before it reaches the network, and signs in with the Google or Apple account the student already has, so there is no new password to invent. Documents are captured with the phone camera, because telling a student to go and find a scanner is telling them to stop. Routine questions go to UniBuddy, the in-app assistant, which answers on entry requirements, visa and scholarship steps and course selection. Counsellor time then goes to the decisions that need a person.
What we built
An iOS and Android app covering the journey from first search to accepted offer.
A clear view of every application
Each application carries a reference, a university, a course and a status the student can read: pending, with the application team, under assessment. A timeline runs alongside it from submission through to the visa interview. "Where are we up to" stops being a message to anyone.
Documents captured on the phone
Photograph a transcript or passport and the app straightens it, turns it into a proper PDF and files it against the application. Multi-page documents are captured page by page, with retake, rotate and filters on each one, so a five-page bank statement arrives as one usable file. No desktop, no scanner, no email attachment.
Appointments instead of negotiation
A counsellor profile carries the countries they cover, their years of experience, their rating and whether they are free this week. Book a slot and it confirms. Appointments can be in person or on Zoom, and every one the student has booked sits on their profile. Times render in the student’s own timezone, which matters when the student is in Yangon and the counsellor is not.
UniBuddy answers first, a counsellor answers second
UniBuddy is the in-app assistant. It covers finding a university, admission requirements, visa and scholarship guidance and course selection, which is most of the question volume. Ask it about entry requirements for a named university and it answers on that university. Anything needing judgement goes to a counsellor instead.
Documents filed, not attached
Uploads land in folders the student can see, personal and academic, with each file dated and removable. Recent files sit on top. It replaces the pattern where a passport scan is somewhere in a chat thread from March.
Universities worth shortlisting
Each university carries its location, the programme levels it offers from foundation through to masters, its strongest majors and a link to its own site, so a shortlist decision is made on the things it actually turns on rather than on a ranking number.
Accommodation with real rooms and real prices
Student housing from partner providers, with room types, weekly price, how many units are left and photographs of the actual building. A student can see that a Lite room in Belfast is £187 a week before they have chosen a country, which is the point at which the number changes the decision.
Guidance and updates in the same place
Learning materials and articles, including the ones about visa requirements and CAS letters that every applicant ends up searching for, reach students in the app rather than through a mailout nobody opens.
Results
The app is live on the App Store and Google Play, in students’ hands rather than in a demo. They can see their own progress without asking for it, and counsellors spend their time on decisions rather than repeating themselves. Documents arrive usable the first time, which removes an entire round of chasing from every application.
More work
All case studies
Got a project that looks like this?
Tell us what you're trying to build, or what has stalled. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right people for it.