Insights into the student mind

School, college and university student research

Take data-informed actions to support, hire and develop the next generation.

Better understand diverse student groups

Cibyl survey over 100,000 students in the UK and Ireland annually.

Cibyl data segmentation

  • School type/university
  • Gender, sexuality, ethnicity, disability neurodiversity
  • Location
  • Domestic/international
  • Course, year group, subject
  • Skills, values
  • Social mobility
Illustration of intersection

How we can help

Cibyl's research supports employers to make data-led and informed decisions to deliver their brand and hiring goals.

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Market overview

Graduate and apprentice market trends tracking year-on-year changes around career confidence, industry sector shifts, most popular employers, salaries and roles.

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The addressable market

Looking at student populations to build your potential pool of candidates, based on your hiring needs across education, attainment, skills, aspirations, EDI and values.

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Attraction

Student social and channel engagement, content consumed and influencers.

Users

Diversity

Build your EDI targets and strategy around your key pillars across gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social mobility, neurodiversity and disability.

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Locating your students

Choosing the right schools, colleges or institutions and attraction activities delivered to achieve the best ROI and track year on year impacts.

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Employer brand

Review of awareness and popularity to your employer brand, what students like about your and benchmark this against competitors.

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Skills & selection

Matching your skills requirements to student capabilities to identify skills gaps, manage internal expectations and successfully support candidates through your recruitment process to ensure a level playing field.

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Stakeholder summaries

Supporting you and your team with internal stakeholder queries around the market and use data to inform decisions , set realistic goals, and measure brand and hiring performance.

From education to employment

Our core annual tracking research gives insight into the early careers aspirations, expectations, motivations, influences, and employer brand perceptions of over 100,000 UK and Ireland students. Our insights provide support to employers, educators, and professional bodies with their attraction, brand, talent management and career service planning.

School Leaver UK

School / College students aged 13 to 18

  • Apprenticeships

  • EDI

  • Post-18 choices

  • Influences

  • Brand perceptions

  • Student engagement

2024

Respondents
13,904
Schools/Colleges
2,000+

Graduate UK

Undergraduates and recent graduates

  • Internship, placements, graduates

  • EDI

  • Campus strategy

  • Brand perceptions

  • Student engagement

  • Competitor benchmarking

  • Professional membership

2024

Respondents
64,495
Universities
160+

Graduate Ireland

Undergraduates and recent graduates

  • Internships, placements, graduates

  • EDI

  • Campus strategy

  • Brand perceptions

  • Student engagement

  • Competitor benchmarking

  • Professional membership

2024

Respondents
13,895
Universities/Colleges
30+

Student experience

The annual Cibyl Student Mental Health Study and ongoing Belong project tracks the reality of UK university students’ experiences whilst studying through graduation and employment and the impacts they have on education and mental health and wellbeing outcomes. Through increased knowledge and measurement, universities and early careers recruiters can build on improvements in services and support.

Student Mental Health

Undergraduates and recent graduates

  • Annual tracking study 2024

In partnership with:
Accenture logo
Imperial College London logo
Student Minds logo
Universities UK logo

2024

Respondents
12,608
Universities
152

Student experience

Undergraduates and recent graduates

  • Monthly pulse survey

In partnership with:
Belong logo
Wonkhe logo

2024

New wave in progress
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Bespoke studies and focus groups

Using our Cibyl-ings student panel, we can source specific students to look at themes and topics important to you and ask the unique questions you want the answers to. The Cibyl team will support with everything from data analysis and internal recommendations through to writing and designing reports for external publication.

Test your recruitment marketing campaign

Show your marketing content and collateral to representative student group to ensure it lands with all students and helps achieve your attraction and hiring goals. A/B test to make informed decisions.

Launch new student programme

Review current programme perceptions and test new programme ideas with the students and measure how your proposed changes will impact who you attract and if this achieves the business hiring goals around student profile, skills or diversity objectives.

Change recruitment or onboarding activities

Measure participants' expectations and the completion rates of your current process stages vs. any proposed changes to understand any potential impact to applicant success ratios and where additional intervention may be needed with specific student groups.

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trusted by leading employers

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“Cibyl shows us how students perceive us and what they’re looking for in an employer in our space.  Backed up by evidence, we’ve projected ourselves in new ways to change perceptions”
Caitlin Ward
Brün Designer
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“It’s the largest and most robust research of its kind”
Matthew Webster
Brün Designer
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“Very happy and so insightful. At initial consultation the team were very patient and took time to explain everything thoroughly regardless of my numerous questions from inexperience! When delivering the research, it was an engaging conversation with debate which was useful, and Lisa kindly offered to provide a short follow up session for our key stakeholders which internally went down very well.”
Paige Brennan
Brün Designer
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“I'm really happy with the quality and breadth of data that we get, and the team are always really responsive to asks that we have that are specific to us or our needs.”
Harrison Atkins
Brün Designer
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“Always an insightful session”
Demi Mason
Brün Designer
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“An excellent experience with qualitative and quality data and research. The level of detail specifically for insurance and financial planning is often "hidden" within or under Banking & Financial Services category of career/profession.”
Josh Quinn
Brün Designer

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Some of our clients

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Bank of England logo
CBRE logo
CMS logo
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DHL logo
Enterprise Rent-a-Car logo
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Lloyds Banking Group logo
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Get in touch

We work with employers and educators to understand students: their ambitions, perceptions of sectors and brands, skills needs, candidate experience and wellbeing.