Transforming the Digital Student Journey
Using creative thinking, digital systems and hands-on content production to modernise how Cirencester College engaged with prospective students.
Overview
Cirencester College is a specialist sixth form college in Gloucestershire offering one of the widest choices of post-16 subjects in the region. While leading the redevelopment of the college website, my role evolved far beyond web design alone, becoming part of a wider effort to modernise how the college communicated with, engaged and supported prospective students throughout their journey.
Combining creative direction, digital strategy and hands-on content production, I helped transform the college’s approach across web, video, social media, events, print and student communications.
The Challenge
The existing website had originally been built internally and lacked the scalability and flexibility needed to support the college’s growing digital requirements.
At the same time, the wider student experience felt fragmented across applications, events and communications, while much of the college’s marketing output lacked the level of digital engagement expected by younger audiences.
The challenge was not only to modernise the website itself, but to rethink how creativity, digital systems and communication could work together to improve the overall student journey.
My Role
- Creative Direction
- UX/UI Design
Graphic/Digital design - Website Redesign
- WordPress Migration
- Digital Strategy
- Content Systems
- SEO Direction
- Video Production & Editing
- Social Media Design
- HTML Email Design
- Prospectus & Print Design
- Event Experience Design
- Developer Collaboration
- Stakeholder Management
The Approach
The project centred around rebuilding the college website on WordPress, creating a more scalable platform that could support future growth and integrations.
Because traditional learning plugins were designed around paid online courses rather than the UK college system, a bespoke application structure had to be developed. This allowed students to select compatible course combinations while integrating application data into separate internal enrolment and funding systems.
Alongside the technical redevelopment, I also led a wider creative refresh across the college’s digital communication and marketing output.
This included:
- producing in-house course videos
- filming and editing promotional content
- designing social media campaigns
- creating HTML email communications
- contributing to the college prospectus and print materials
- developing more modern and engaging digital assets across multiple channels
The visual direction helped move the college toward a more contemporary and approachable identity, introducing softer UI styling, expanded colour palettes and more responsive, student-focused digital experiences.
I also worked closely with staff across departments to improve how course information was managed and presented online. Structured content templates and API-driven systems allowed non-technical teaching staff to update course content through internal tools while maintaining consistency across the public website.
During COVID restrictions, I also helped pioneer a large-scale virtual open day system that allowed prospective students to register for sessions, access live talks and receive personalised follow-up communications based on their interests.
This later evolved into a hybrid event and tracking system where QR-code-based sign-ins allowed the college to better understand attendee behaviour, subject interests and engagement patterns, helping shift decision-making toward a far more data-informed and personalised communication approach.
Before
After
Outcome
The new platform and wider digital systems significantly modernised how the college communicated with prospective students across both digital and physical touchpoints.
The website remains in active use today, continuing to support applications, course discovery and student engagement several years after launch.
More broadly, the work helped transform the college’s wider communication approach by combining creative content, scalable systems and more personalised digital experiences to better support prospective students throughout their journey.