Complementing traditional outreach activities, Arden University, in partnership with CiCi (a NESTA and DfE funded start-up) is pleased to have launched its new online careers chatbot to support prospective students understand the courses available at Arden, how they relate to different careers, and what those careers might actually be like.
This follows a major UCAS study in 2021 which revealed that “Two in five students believe that more information and advice would have led to better HE choices.” The study also outlined that almost half of students from more deprived backgrounds raise the same concern. These statistics suggests that while student support services, flexible courses, and pastoral care can all help once students have started, improving choices before starting a course of study is also key.
As a result, the Arden careers chatbot, which sources careers information from a wide range of independent sources including Prospects.ac.uk, is freely available for anyone to use online via Arden’s website, and represents part of Arden’s ongoing commitment, though its Access and Participation Plan, to offer a broader ‘all welcome’ free service to the public, including adults neither applying to nor studying with Arden but who have not typically received effective careers guidance and support.
Caroline Tolond, Head of Careers and Employability at Arden University, said: “A Careers Chatbot provides an effective way of offering free careers information and advice to the public 24/7. Having worked hard in partnership with CareerChat UK, we are pleased to offer everyone access to this new career resource.
“We’re confident the service will surface new and exciting careers resources, from a number of external careers resources, to allow users to explore different career options and understand next steps they might need to take to progress in their career journeys.”
Click the link at the bottom corner of the screen to use Arden's live chat today
