Do you work in student recruitment, widening participation, schools liaison, marketing, or marketing?

The UniTasterDays Practitioners' Guide is a collection of over 40 articles filled with valuable advice, guidance, and case studies designed to support university practitioners in their student recruitment activity.

It also offers a platform for you to share your own wisdom with fellow university practitioners working in the sector. Unlike our Student, Parent, and Teacher Guides, this brochure is intended to support practitioners just like you!

Do you have an engaging classroom activity to share? Maybe a strategy to manage a disruptive school group? A marketing tool or tactic to build relationships with influencers? Or perhaps an innovative addition to a taster day?

If so, we’d love you to write for us!

You will discover lots of benefits to writing for the Practitioners’ Guide. If you choose to submit an article, you will:

• Gain an opportunity to showcase your success
• Help your peers in their own student recruitment activity
• Contribute to stronger support for prospective students across the UK
• Receive visibility and credibility across the sector – great for your employability
• Develop your writing, editing, and proof-reading skills.

To write an article, you need to work at one of our member universities in a role such as student recruitment, widening participation, schools liaison, marketing, and outreach.

We occasionally accept articles from other sources, such as partner organisations and the guest speakers who attend our university training days.

Rest assured, you don’t need any prior writing experience to submit an article. Our editorial team is happy to support you.

Equally, you don't need to be in a senior role. Advice and insights from entry-level practitioners are just as valuable as those written by directors.

We accept articles at any time throughout the year. If you have an idea, please email Simon at [email protected]. Simon will confirm if the idea is suitable and available.

Ready to start writing your article?

Please follow our editorial guidelines. Your article should be:

1. Any length - we welcome snackable advice and long reads in equal measure!
2. Written for your fellow university practitioners who work in student recruitment, widening participation, schools liaison, outreach, and marketing.
3. Your own unique content in your own style. You are welcome to submit articles that you have written for other places, provided you make us aware of their original appearance, and you give them a little creative revision to freshen them up!
4. Articles should be acronym and jargon free, or at least explained within the article when they appear for the first time. You may be writing for fellow university professionals, but please be mindful of skills and knowledge gaps.
5. Concise and well structured. Readability is critical when preparing any written communication. Please use simple language, short sentences, short paragraphs, sub-headings, and bullet-points. We even offer a university training day on this topic!

Please submit your article to Simon at [email protected]. Your email should include:

• Your article attached in a Word document
• Your name
• Your job title
• Your institution

You will receive an acknowledgment for your content.

Once submitted, your article will be reviewed and revised by our editorial team. We rarely make significant changes, especially regarding the content of your article.

Typically, our team uses copywriting best practice to enhance the readability of your article, such as occasional language and structural edits. This makes the article more audience-friendly, accessible, and suitable for being read online.

Either way, you will receive the edited article to check you are happy with our amends. We will ask you to review and approve the final version. Once you are happy, we will publish your article on the live version of the guide. You'll also receive a bonus promotional image for posting on LinkedIn!

The Practitioners' Guide 2025 is already published, with more articles on the way.

We would love you to explore the articles written by your fellow practitioners to gain valuable advice and guidance to help you perform in your role. And why stop there?

You can gain further professional development opportunities by attending (or requesting) our inspiring, insightful, and interactive training days.

There are two options. You can:

• Attend our next university training day – our popular sector-wide events, hosted throughout the year in Birmingham
• Book an in-house training day – a bespoke training day offered to your full department, hosted on your very own campus.

And remember... We also have a wider series of free online guides packed with advice written by school liaison practitioners. These are created each year to support teachers, parents, and prospective students with the university application cycle:

• Teachers’ Guide to University

• Parents’ Guide to University

• Students’ Guide to University

Please do share these with your audiences and contacts to support your student recruitment, widening participation, schools liaison, outreach, and marketing activity. We can supply text, imagery, and everything else you need to do so!

As ever, if you have any questions about our Practitioners’ Guide, our training opportunities, or anything else, please do let us know. We’d be happy to help. Contact Simon at [email protected].