New online learning platform thrives within opening year

EC Online reaches 84% application conversion rate within opening year

Almost a year after its launch in April 2021, Eastleigh College Online has quickly established itself as a valuable medium for educational delivery, with an 84% conversion rate of learners enquiring to applying for one of our courses. This compares favourably to the 69% average conversion rate of leading competitors in the sector.

With the recent global acceleration of online learning, the College recognised the need to go further last year to meet the immediate needs of the pandemic. EC Online offers flexible learning courses that can be done from any place at any time and are a solution for those geographically distant from the College, those with other commitments, such as work or childcare, or those who simply prefer remote learning to a classroom based approach. Courses cover a variety of sectors such as business, hospitality, childcare, healthcare, digital media and sustainability, with all Level 1 and Level 2 courses fully funded (providing applicants meet funding criteria). EC Online also utilises the acclaimed EQUAL cloud-based system, which brings together course management features, engaging online experiences and intuitive administration tools to help achieve blended learning needs.

The high application conversion rate of EC Online is influenced by the sustained level of support that our learner recruitment team are able to provide. This includes one-to-one phone calls with specific course trainers, who are on hand to offer advice and guidance to the learner from the initial enquiry right through the application process. Mandy Diaz, an online trainer who specialises in childcare and mental health courses, explains the importance of this provision: “Online learning has the potential to be lonelier and we don’t want any learners to feel stressed or disconnected from support services. I make sure learners know I am always on the other end of the phone or email when required and that no question is a silly question.”

While childcare and healthcare are the most popular sectors of EC Online, there have been encouraging signs across other sectors too. 95% of eco learners felt they had successfully developed their knowledge and learned new skills while NCFE feedback of our sport and fitness course provisions praised the strength of our teaching team: “There is a committed and experienced team who are suitably qualified. The majority of the team have been with the College for a number of years and even the newest team members have had experience in other colleges.”

Even with these positive steps forward, Adult and Online Team Leader Michelle Watton reiterated the College’s commitment to further developing this service: “We are continuously looking at ways to improve EC Online, from the courses and content that we deliver to the quality and experience that we give our learners. We are also looking to introduce additional courses later this year.”