We are assessing applications quicker this academic year owing to the Fund Management System’s ease of Open Banking to access banking information and saving staff time accessing everything in one place.
The numbers
for staff to process applications using the FMS, compared to the previous system
automated emails sent to students through the FMS in 6 months, in relation to fund applications
saved for staff if we assume it would take 5 minutes to send each email manually – equivalent to over 2 weeks!
faster for students to supply bank statement-related evidence alongside their application – using Open Banking
awarded to students in 6 months
funds managed through Blackbullion’s Funds Management System (FMS)
Background: the challenge
Before the Financial Support Team at Imperial College London (Imperial) started using the Blackbullion Funds Management System (FMS), their financial support process was difficult for staff to manage and for students to use.
The team had been receiving student feedback that the complex nature of the previous process was putting them off applying for financial support in the first place (too lengthy and complicated). For students with a learning difference, like dyslexia, the online form was not accessible, making it hard for them to apply for financial support at all.
These challenges were felt by staff too. The complexity of the digital application form that was used previously meant they were unable to implement their own improvements, preventing cross-department collaboration.
Staff found themselves working in silos and struggling to access timely technical help – having to go through various IT support teams. There was also a big strain on the team in terms of the volume of admin. Having to send multiple emails manually to students about every application meant that an individual case could take months to assess.
Overall, huge amounts of time were being lost for both students and staff. Imperial knew changes were needed to streamline the process – to make it more efficient and effective for both parties.
Our original application form was quite complex and we had a lot of negative feedback from students saying that applying was a long process.
The objectives
- Simplify and speed up the entire financial support process – from application to decision – to make it more efficient for staff and students
- Manage multiple funds all in one place and create new ones tailored to the challenges of specific student cohorts
- Improve the application experience for students
- Ensure the application process is accessible to all students – to be inclusive of all learning differences and ensure all students are able to apply for financial support
- Ensure staff are able to access quick and easy IT support, should they need it
The solution
Imperial initially partnered with Blackbullion in 2020 to provide financial education for all of their students – supporting them with money skills and confidence during their studies and throughout life.
After discussing the challenges of their previous financial support process with the Blackbullion team, Imperial were impressed by the Funds Management System. In particular, the design of the application form. They could see how applying for financial support through the Blackbullion platform would be a much more accessible and user-friendly experience for their students than the process they had previously been using and receiving negative feedback about.
They also recognised how the Funds Management System could make the entire process, from start to finish, much quicker for both staff and students.
Imperial adopted the Funds Management System in October 2023, confident that it was the perfect solution to help them streamline the entire financial support process and improve the experience for students.
Solutions in use
The impact
1. A more efficient financial support process
for staff to process applications using the FMS, compared to the previous system
minutes for students to supply bank statement-related evidence using Open Banking, compared to an average of 40 minutes previously
automated emails sent to students through the FMS in 6 months, in relation to fund applications
saved for staff if we assume it would take 5 minutes to send each email manually – equivalent to over 2 weeks!
The ability to automatically pull in bank statement-related evidence has saved staff and students time
The whole team loves Open Banking, that might actually be their favourite feature of the whole thing.
One feature of the Blackbullion Funds Management System has been reported as the unanimous favourite for time-saving by the Imperial team: Open Banking. Or in other words, the ability for a student to connect their bank accounts to their application to automatically pull in any bank statements they need to provide.
Meaning that:
- Students no longer need to manually download and annotate every bank statement individually (they can automatically pull the statements in and annotate them online, where they are prompted to make sure nothing is missed)
- Students can now pull in all of their statements up to the day they submitted their application (if downloading manually, they can only get statements up until the end of the previous month – often resulting in the need for further evidence requests)
- There’s a much greater chance that students will provide everything that’s needed alongside their application the first time around so staff save time by not needing to contact the student to request further evidence
Imperial had previously found students to be unwilling to submit screenshots or PDF downloads of their bank statements because the process of gathering these took so long and this would become a blocker to their application being able to be considered.
Other times, the team would receive up to three months’ worth of statements for multiple accounts per student, sometimes these wouldn’t be clearly organised or named and it would prove unmanageable for the staff member to sift through and organise them all.
Now using the Funds Management System, Imperial has seen applications that would previously have taken months to process completed in a matter of hours.
It has also cut down on how much back-and-forth communication staff need with students to make sure they have provided all required evidence, as well as their correct bank details for payment of an award.
Quicker and easier for staff to communicate with students if needed
Another challenge with Imperial’s previous system was that, because they were unable to customise the application experience, some students would be asked to provide pieces of evidence that were not applicable to them. This led to incomplete applications and increased drop off.
The Funds Management System makes sure to only require evidence relevant to the student’s unique circumstances. This eliminates any uncertainty surrounding the information a student needs to supply alongside their application.
Additionally, if there is ever a reason that a student is unable to provide a required piece of evidence, the student can add a note to the requested evidence piece, to communicate directly with Imperial’s Financial Support team, to explain why.
If anything is ever missing from the application whereby staff need to contact a student, the team is able to quickly take advantage of the Fund Management System’s communications tool to request further information directly from the student without leaving the application – saving time spent emailing back and forth.
2. Multiple funds managed in one place
funds managed through Blackbullion’s Funds Management System (FMS)
The team at Imperial manage several funds through the Funds Management System and having everything in one, centralised place makes the entire process much more efficient for staff members. This, in turn, means students receive a decision faster too.
Another benefit is that the team is able to create a unique application experience for students. Imperial’s previous system made it difficult to customise the application form across different funds. This meant some of the questions were irrelevant to the fund a student was applying for, and the team were unable to personalise the experience.
Now, using the FMS, the team is able to adapt a fund’s application form to suit the varying financial circumstances that would lead a student to apply. This means they have been able to create new funds tailored to the financial challenges of particular student cohorts. Watch Katie Baker, Student Financial Support Advisor at Imperial, explain more about the funds they manage through the Funds Management System:
3. An improved application experience for students
awarded to students in 6 months
Greater visibility for students has alleviated stress and reduced queries from students chasing applications
With Imperial’s previous system, students reported that they would feel anxious after submitting their application. They’d feel unsure about whether they had provided all the information staff needed to assess their application and they wanted more visibility on what stage their application was at in the process.
But the complexity of Imperial’s old system made it difficult for them to make changes to any part of their application process, even if they identified steps that were causing students stress. These constraints meant they were unable to provide the clarity that students needed.
The Funds Management System alleviates this problem as it has a live application tracker that students can access at any time to see which stage in the process their application is at. Students will see their tracker update each time a staff action is taken on their application. If any further information is required from them, they will be automatically notified by email – no need for the staff member to get in touch.
The staff members at Imperial also benefit from tools within the Funds Management System to keep track of where an application is at by applying labels to a case and filtering cases according to the labels. This simplifies their workflow and allows them to see at a quick glance which applications they need to work on throughout each day.
Happier and less stressed students!
The team at Imperial has heard great things from their students about the new application process through Blackbullion. Students report that it has:
- Saved them a lot of time
- Made them more willing to apply for financial support but also helped them better understand if they are eligible for funds
- Been a lot easier to use compared to the previous application process
- Reassured them with a new consent process: the student decides whether or not their faculty tutor is informed that they have applied for financial support
- Fit in better with their busy student lives as once they start an application through Blackbullion, it will automatically save, which means they can come back and complete it later – something Imperial’s previous system would never have been able to do
Hear more about the feedback Imperial received after integrating the Funds Management System.
Everything we’ve had back [from students] has been very positive. They’ve said it’s saved them a lot of time and has been much easier to use.
4. A process that is accessible to all students
applications started by students across Imperial’s funds in 6 months
The Imperial team received extensive feedback from students that the existing system was not accessible for those with learning differences, such as dyslexia. This was largely due to the formatting of the form, which the team was unable to edit.
Moving to the Funds Management System has allowed Imperial to reinvent their entire digital application form. It presented them with a clean slate, allowing the team to collaborate with students, faculty senior tutors and Blackbullion’s Customer Success Team to create fully accessible application forms that are inclusive of all students.
Watch the video to find just a few ways that the Imperial team changed their form.
Since implementing their new forms through Blackbullion, Imperial students report that the application process is now more accessible to neurodivergent students and that the interface is much more user-friendly. Positive changes to the form have included:
- Spacing out questions – by having one question per page, Imperial’s forms through Blackbullion have been designed so as not to overwhelm or distract neurodivergent students.
- Only showing questions relevant to a student’s specific circumstances – early questions in the form will focus on asking students about their particular circumstances so that all questions that follow are relevant to them, reducing any unnecessary cognitive load.
- Ensuring pages are accessible via screen reader and keyboard navigation – so that students using assistive technology have full access as well.
- Screen magnification – any page on the Blackbullion platform can be used in conjunction with in-browser zoom features to increase text size.
- Built mobile-first – students can access their application on any device and the application auto-saves, allowing students to start their application and return to it whenever they have time
5. Quick and easy to get support from the Blackbullion team
Should the Imperial team require support at any time, they can easily get in touch with Blackbullion’s Customer Success and Support teams. Providing them with consistent and timely support, which is something they didn’t have with their previous system.
Hear more about Imperial’s experience with the Blackbullion Customer Success team.
If there is ever a problem with the application there is an extremely quick response time from Blackbullion telling us how to solve it.
Plans for the future
Imperial has extended its long-term partnership with Blackbullion with the Funds Management System at the heart of the university’s financial support process.
They will continue to review the number of financial support funds Imperial have on offer for their students to apply for through Blackbullion and making sure they are catering to the specific needs of student groups.
They also aim to further evolve the funds management process itself making sure every touchpoint of the application journey is as smooth and efficient as possible for students.
Learn more about the FMS and what it can do for your students.
Get in touch
Book a call or contact us on hello@blackbullion.com if you’re not yet using the Funds Management System and want to find out more about why it’s the UK’s leading end-to-end funding solution; trusted by university staff to streamline the entire process, providing a seamless experience from application creation and management through to instant payments.
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