Unibattle is back and bigger than ever for its seventh (yes, seventh!) year. Think your university or college has what it takes to be crowned the Unibattle champion? Here’s everything you need to know as a staff member.
What and when is Unibattle 2023?
Unibattle is the annual Blackbullion competition where universities and colleges far and wide compete for the highly coveted title of ‘Money Smartest.’
It’s one of the ‘Playbook campaigns’ that you receive as a Blackbullion partner, and it’s arguably the most popular one amongst staff and students alike!
To win, universities and colleges must encourage their students to engage with the Blackbullion financial wellbeing platform and app as much as possible during the Unibattle fortnight.
This year the campaign runs from 9am on Monday 6th November – Friday 17th November at 3pm.
Whether your institution takes the title or not, students always win – building essential money skills and confidence (along with the chance to win some extra prizes!)
How can your university or college take part?
The competition is open only to Blackbullion partner universities and colleges.
As long as your institution is a partner, all you have to do to get involved is encourage your students to:
- Sign up or log into our financial wellbeing platform
- Complete the personal finance lessons on the platform and answer quiz questions
- Download the new Blackbullion app and set up their account to earn more points and help your institution climb the leaderboard (App Store) (Google Play Store)
Universities and colleges will then ascend the Unibattle leaderboard based on the number of sign-ups, app account set-ups and lessons completed by their students during the fortnight.
You can keep track of where you are on the leaderboard at https://www.blackbullion.com/unibattle (this page will be updated in good time before the campaign begins).
Like other years, Unibattle 2023 will coincide with Talk Money Week – run by the Money and Pensions Service to keep the nation talking about money.
Why should you get involved?
Keep conversations about money open during the cost-of-living crisis
We know that it can be even harder to talk about money when things get tough. That’s why it’s so important, especially during difficult economic times, to keep the dialogue open.
Unibattle provides a great opportunity for you to engage your students with financial topics in a fun, gamified context while also encouraging them to keep having conversations with one another.
Help students learn more about the economic events that are affecting them
While things like interest rates and inflation changes may have a huge impact on students’ money day to day, that doesn’t mean they are easy to understand. During Unibattle, you can also signpost students to certain pathways within our platform that help demystify these financial topics. Some of these pathways include:
Point students to places where they can find help
We learnt earlier this year that, on average, students say they need £548 extra a month to feel confident they will be able to complete their degree. By using Unibattle to engage with students who are struggling, you also have the chance to signpost them to places they can go for help, both at your own institution and otherwise. Including our Funding Hub, where they can search and apply for tens of millions of pounds worth of supplementary funds.
Promote the Blackbullion platform and app to your students
Getting your students involved with Unibattle also provides you with a brilliant opportunity to raise awareness of the fact that, because you’re a Blackbullion partner, your students all have free access to our financial wellbeing platform and app!
The campaign gives you the chance to shout about this and make sure that as many of your students as possible know that you provide Blackbullion for them because you prioritise their financial wellbeing.
What are the Unibattle prizes?
Prizes for students
This year’s prizes don’t only include past favourites with students (Apple Airpods and Asus Chromebook are making a return this year), but also prizes that will help the winner with the challenges of the cost of living crisis – like extra cash.
Some of this year’s prizes include:
- Fitbit Charge 5
- Airfryer
- £50 COOK voucher
- £100 emergency cash boost
- Nutribullet
See the full list of prizes here.
In addition to the every-weekday prize draw, we have also introduced a new student prize element for Unibattle 2023…
There will be a £50 cash boost for one student at each university and college that makes it onto this year’s leaderboard of 20 institutions. And staff at these institutions will be able to select their own student winner for the £50 cash prize.
The information provided was very useful and better than any lesson I had in secondary school about finances. It taught me stuff which I didn’t even know about or haven’t even heard of, so it was very beneficial 😊 – the prize was just a bonus!
Prizes for staff
It’s not only students who win during Unibattle!
As well as the traditional trophy, staff who take part in Unibattle at this year’s winning university or college will also receive:
- A paid lunch for all of their team
- A Krispy Kreme doughnut tower – delivered in time for you to use to engage students during National Student Money Week 2024
- A runner-up gift for 2nd and 3rd place
So with so much to play for, it’s no surprise some staff have already started with fighting talk…
No one else has won Unibattle twice before… now it’s time to demonstrate our winning mentality once again and dominate Unibattle 2023 and take the money-smartest university crown for the third time. The others don’t stand a chance 😉
What resources can you use to promote Unibattle to your students?
Copy-and-paste communications, plus digital images and resources
The Unibattle cheat sheet is available for you to download now and includes everything you need to spread the word about Unibattle to your students.
We’ve made sure to do all the preparation, and the cheat sheet includes everything you’ll need to reach your students in the places they use most regularly. The cheat sheet includes:
- Social media images for Instagram, Instagram stories, Twitter and Linkedin
- Social media post templates (including suggestions and hashtags)
- Social media videos for Instagram reels and Tik Tok
- Email templates to use to promote Unibattle
- TV screen adverts (videos and still images)
- Images for use in emails, blogs and newsletters
Download your campaign cheat sheet now.
Unibattle website page
Direct students to the Unibattle website page so they can take part and also so they can keep an eye on the leaderboard when it goes live on Monday 6th November.
(This page will be updated in good time for the start of this year’s campaign).
Unibattle merchandise
If you ordered physical merchandise to hand out to students during this year’s Unibattle, this was delivered to you at the end of August/start of September.
This year’s merchandise includes Unibattle-themed:
- Stickers
- Key rings
- Roller banner
- Promotional ‘business cards’
- Posters to put around campus
T&C’s
All Unibattle terms and conditions can be found here.
What can you expect from Unibattle 2023?
Last year, a record-breaking 12,500+ students took part in Unibattle, with more than 5,600 students joining Blackbullion for the very first time.
The battle for the top spot was neck and neck. But, in the end, Northumbria University managed to come out on top and claim the title of ‘Money Smartest’ university or college – plus bragging rights of course!
Special mention to the University of Bolton and the University of Chester too, who came a close second and third place, respectively.
Think your university or college could take the crown this time? The title could well be yours!
No matter the outcome, Unibattle always provides excitement for everyone involved, and this year will be no different.
Get started now by downloading your campaign cheat sheet.
Got questions? Let us know at support@blackbullion.com
Not yet a Blackbullion partner?
No need for FOMO! Get in touch if you’re interested in joining our growing community of 60+ universities and colleges and taking part in Unibattle.
Who knows? Join us now and you could be this year’s Unibattle winner!
Or have a read of our info pack to find out more about our financial wellbeing platform and app.
Don’t forget to sign up to our staff email newsletter to get all the latest blogs, news and updates to help you support students and their financial wellbeing.
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