Image ![University of East London Pioneering Future since 1898](/sites/default/files/styles/case_study_stat_logo/public/media/image/2026-09/UEL%20logo%20tagline%20BLACK%20.png?itok=oRgefLNb) # University of East London Lifts Apply Now Clicks 11.2% [Visit University of East London Website](https://www.uel.ac.uk/) Industry Education Region EMEA Products - [Acquia Conversion Optimization ](/products/acquia-conversion-optimization) - [Acquia Site Studio ](/drupal/site-studio) - [Acquia Cloud Platform ](/products/acquia-cloud-platform) 11 % lift in Apply Now clicks on course pages 97 % probability the variation beat the control ## **The Client** The University of East London (UEL) serves more than 42,000 students drawn from around the world, with a stated ambition to become the UK's leading careers-intensive university and a pioneer of what it calls the 5.0 Economy — a focus on digital skills and sustainability. ## **The Situation** UEL's Digital Content team had spotted something easy to see and hard to act on. The university's international admissions page drew more visitors than any other part of the site, and nothing was being done with it — no testing, no personalization, no tuning for the audiences arriving there. The page holding the most attention was the one getting the least. The team also had a specific idea about why it underperformed. Their hypothesis was that course information belonged at the top of the page, ahead of institutional context, and that prospective students who saw it sooner would be likelier to apply. Recruitment runs on deadlines, so a page underperforming during an application window cannot be quietly corrected the following quarter. ## **The Challenge** The personalization capability existed on paper but had never been set up in practice, which meant the Digital Content team could not test a hypothesis, could not vary content by audience, and could not answer basic questions about which layout served which visitor. That constraint is what left the highest-traffic section of the site untouched because there was no safe way to try it and find out whether it worked. ## **The Solution** **Build and launch.** Using VWO Testing, the team built a variation placing an accolades box — the university's rankings and recognitions — at the top of its course pages, above the fold, and ran it against the existing layout. The variation was assembled in the visual editor and split against the control without a development cycle. **Targeting.** In parallel, the team used Personalize to serve country-specific versions of the international admission deadlines page, so that a visitor from Nigeria saw the deadlines, entry requirements, and calls to action relevant to them rather than a generic international page. On country-specific pages, Apply and Contact buttons moved to the top. The Nigeria page, one of the high-traffic international segments the team was targeting, showed a marked improvement. ## **The Results** The accolades box variation lifted clicks on Apply Now by 11.2% against the control, with a 97% probability that the variation genuinely outperformed the baseline rather than winning by chance. Apply Now clicks are an engagement metric, one step short of a submitted application. But on a course page, that is the shortest step in the funnel — the visitor has already found the course and read it. Moving 11.2% more prospective students to the threshold of applying, on the highest-traffic section of the site, during a live recruitment cycle, is a meaningful result rather than a cosmetic one. The accolades box has since been permanently developed and deployed across the university's website. That is the outcome that matters most here: a hypothesis the team had held but never been able to check was measured, won, and then built for good. "VWO is much, much easier to use... this is the first time we've actually been able to use a personalization platform." — *Olivia Brambill, Digital Content Manager, UEL* First Name Last Name Email Company Job Title Country Country AfghanistanÅland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua & BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAscension IslandAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBosnia & HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBritish Virgin IslandsBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCanary IslandsCape VerdeCaribbean NetherlandsCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicCeuta & MelillaChadChileChinaChristmas IslandClipperton IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongo - BrazzavilleCongo - KinshasaCook IslandsCosta RicaCôte d’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzechiaDenmarkDiego GarciaDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEswatiniEthiopiaFalkland IslandsFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard & McDonald IslandsHondurasHong Kong SAR ChinaHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKosovoKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacao SAR ChinaMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesiaMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmar (Burma)NamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorth KoreaNorth MacedoniaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestinian TerritoriesPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairn IslandsPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarRéunionRomaniaRussiaRwandaSamoaSan MarinoSão Tomé & PríncipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia & South Sandwich IslandsSouth KoreaSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSt. BarthélemySt. HelenaSt. Kitts & NevisSt. LuciaSt. MartinSt. Pierre & MiquelonSt. Vincent & GrenadinesSudanSurinameSvalbard & Jan MayenSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad & TobagoTristan da CunhaTunisiaTürkiyeTurkmenistanTurks & Caicos IslandsTuvaluU.S. Outlying IslandsU.S. Virgin IslandsUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican CityVenezuelaVietnamWallis & FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe State - Select -AlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaArizonaArkansasArmed Forces (AA)Armed Forces (AE)Armed Forces (AP)CaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarshall IslandsMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMicronesiaMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthern Mariana IslandsOhioOklahomaOregonPalauPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirgin IslandsVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming Marketing Opt-In Yes, I would like to receive updates and information about Acquia's products, events, webinars, and more. 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