How FastLane is connecting thousands of international students to the right universities for them

Each year we like to celebrate the successes of our students, partners, and teams. Bringing together all these stakeholders, FastLane has been at the forefront of success. Since its launch in 2021, FastLane has transformed the application process for prospective international students. In the last year, 17,500 students have received formal offers after gaining an offer-in-principle using FastLane with over 4,200 listed courses for them to choose from.

The app is also available in 18 student markets around the world at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, giving access to more prospective students than ever before and helping universities with diversification. Reflecting the ever-expanding scale of the app, one in eight of IDP's students bound for Australia used FastLane, while one in nine of our IDP UK-bound students were FastLane users within the first year of its launch.

FastLane partners are reaping the benefits. Over 90 institutions, including over 40 UK institutions, have now opted to use the FastLane service to recruit high-quality international students, improve efficiencies among admissions teams and accelerate their recruitment processes.

A free service for both institutions and prospective students, FastLane can now be adopted by institutions at a faster rate than ever before. The new onboarding process requires just one hour of our clients’ time for us to be able to complete the rest of the onboarding in under 2 weeks! This is a significant reduction in time from the previous onboarding period of 10 weeks. All we need from the university is one hour of their time and then within two weeks of work on our side, they can be successfully onboarded as FastLane partners. Our Client Enablement team works with new partners to set up the academic requirement for the issuance of offers-in-principles and thereafter partners receive ongoing support from our Client Success team to ensure best results.

 “FastLane has been transformative for the University of Hertfordshire. It has helped us to turn applications around much quicker, to keep students engaged with our processes, and to better convert students that are well-matched to our institution,” says Dean Lee, International Admissions Manager at the University of Hertfordshire.

The University of Hertfordshire signed up to IDP’s FastLane service with the intention of improving turnaround times of international applications, recruiting well-matched applicants, and increasing conversion rates. Since becoming a FastLane partner, the application-to-offer rate has increased to 36% compared to their standard rate.

FastLane filters applications, so that they match the university’s academic criteria, thereby also significantly reducing the hours spent rejecting unsuitable applications. In the University of Hertfordshire’s case, 540 hours of time spent rejecting applications were saved.

So, how does FastLane work?

FastLane matches students to live admissions criteria rules, allowing IDP to make offers-in-principle to verified students who meet the criteria. Institutions offer FastLane students quicker turnaround times and offer institutions improved admissions efficiency. Here’s how it works:

FastLane ultimately makes the application process much simpler for prospective students, avoiding complicated and disconnected application processes across multiple platforms and bringing everything onto one trusted platform. It also speeds up the application process for students, preventing them from enduring long waiting periods where they are more likely to lose interest. Prospective students can receive an offer-in-principle within 30 minutes of using FastLane.

Ray Nandini, an IDP student now studying in the UK, says: “We used the FastLane process to check if I was eligible. We checked and I was eligible for my top-choice and received my in-principle offer. I received my offer within one day. I was honestly so happy to receive my offer. I would recommend IDP to anyone.”

Benefits for institutions include improved efficiencies among admissions teams, recruitment of more highly qualified international students, diversification, and acceleration of the recruitment process. Matt Dean, Director of International Recruitment, at Aston University says: “We've been getting exactly what we wanted, which was better qualified applicants coming through... and every single applicant so far has been made an offer within the agreed timeframe.” Bridging AI and human interaction.

Neil Pearson, Chief Digital Officer for IDP Education, says: “Our industry is undergoing a transformation driven by data science and technology, enabling us to offer more tailored recommendations and fast-track the student application process.” He believes in the importance of finding the right balance between the use of AI and data science technology and providing human support.

While FastLane uses groundbreaking technology to help prospective students find the right higher education placements for them, IDP’s student counsellors remain at the centre of the app’s success. Complimenting the tech side of FastLane, counsellors bring the human touch, offering personalised support and assurance to prospective students.

Sayani, an IDP Counsellor based in Kolkata says: “The turnaround time for the offers is really fast. It has boosted the confidence of my students. When a student walks into the office, the first thing I do is introduce the FastLane and offer-in-principle process. There are also a lot of top universities in FastLane, and this has convinced students to use FastLane.”

Chennai-based student counsellor, Edith, adds: “If the institution has an admissions fee, FastLane helps the student save the money as they are able to check the eligibility before they apply.”

In 2022, the University of Exeter became one of the first Russell Group institutions to adopt FastLane. With the University’s admissions team experiencing significant post-pandemic pressure, it was seeking a method to increase conversion and to process overseas students more efficiently. It was important to the University to ensure the most suitable candidates were matched with the right programs.

FastLane by the numbers at Exeter:

• 343 ineligible candidates filtered out pre-application

• 60 hours of time saved by the admissions team  (based on 10 minutes per rejection)

• Application to Offer rate 20% higher than their average

Keyleigh Yard, International Stakeholder Liaison Officer at University of Exeter, says: “Being one of the early adopters of FastLane, we are thrilled with the positive outcomes it has brought us. FastLane has proven to be a valuable asset, attracting high-quality students who meet our standards. In fact, our FastLane application to offer rate is 20 per cent higher than our standard rate.” Since setting up FastLane, the University has had regular reviews to ensure the system is working as required, and the University team has access to self-serve reporting through the portal to check progress. Read the full case study here.