Coleg y Cymoedd, one of Wales’ largest further education providers, has achieved significant success in student recruitment through the deployment of artificial intelligence.
The partnership with ICS.AI has delivered over £5.9 million in financial benefits with additional tuition revenue and operational cost savings, and a record 18% increase in enrolments, in one year.
ARNY, ICS AI’s AI-powered assistant, has transformed the college's approach to student engagement and operational efficiency, leading to staff time savings and enabling the approval of a voluntary redundancy request, saving an estimated £50,800 annually.
Serving over 10,000 students across four campuses, Coleg y Cymoedd faced challenges in managing an extensive range of full-time and part-time courses while ensuring bilingual service delivery in both English and Welsh in compliance with the Welsh Language Act. Recognising the need for transformation, the college sought a solution to handle high enquiry volumes, particularly outside of traditional working hours when prospective students and their families often conducted research.
To address these challenges, the college collaborated with ICS.AI to develop ARNY, the first bilingual AI assistant in Welsh further education. Named after the college’s four campuses (Aberdare, Rhondda, Nantgarw, and Ystrad Mynach), ARNY was designed with input from staff and students to address specific recruitment and engagement challenges. ICS.AI’s SMART: AI Student Recruitment Copilot, built on Microsoft technology, deploys a pre-trained language model covering over 400 further education topics, and integrates seamlessly with the college’s systems.
ARNY automated the handling of thousands of enquiries, 46% of which occurred outside traditional office hours. By streamlining routine enquiries, the AI assistant enables the admissions team to focus on personalised applicant interactions. Since its launch ARNY has handled over 5,000 queries, engaging over 3,000 conversations.
The implementation of ARNY led to a net enrolment increase of 523 students, representing an 18% rise compared to the previous year. Conversion rates have also improved, jumping from 72.68% to 80.21%, resulting in 443 additional successful applications. Retention rates have strengthened, with 66 fewer early withdrawals and non-starters. The AI assistant also complies with WGAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards, ensuring inclusivity in student recruitment.
Rory Meredith, Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation at Coleg y Cymoedd, said:
“Working with ICS AI, we’ve totally overhauled and improved the student recruitment journey, offering 24/7 bilingual support that ensures no student enquiry goes unanswered. This innovation has transformed the way we engage with prospective students while significantly reducing administrative pressures on our team. It’s led to the type of engagement we’ve never seen before.”
Martin Neale, CEO of ICS.AI, added:
“Our partnership with Coleg y Cymoedd is a significant step forward in demonstrating the power of AI within education, an area that we at ICS.AI take incredibly seriously. By integrating advanced AI solutions into recruitment and student engagement, we are setting a new standard for efficiency and user experience in the education sector. The financial benefits this partnership has delivered are a tangible example of how this crucial sector can improve service but also cut costs.”
The success of ARNY has also secured Welsh Government funding through the D2030 FE Capital Fund, supporting the college’s broader AI adoption strategy. The first part of this is the Course Recommendation Skill, using GPT-4 technology, the college’s first implementation of Gen AI, which has recently gone live. It provides personalised course suggestions based on students’ interests, current academic level, and preferred campus. Additional AI copilots are being piloted to enhance teaching and learning methodologies and reduce administrative workloads for educators.
