UNIAID
All about you
Case study
The Challenge
71% of sixth form leavers said that the shortage of money was their
biggest concern about Higher Education. More than half of UK undergraduates
underestimate the cost of living. [Source: 2006 Nat West Student
Money Matters survey]
UNIAID selected Epic to produce an innovative e-learning program
to encourage higher education students to balance their financial
books, enabling them to concentrate on the academic ones. UNIAID
is a registered charity set up in 2001 to help students cope with
financial hurdles, giving practical skills and offering direct support
to students in hardship. In order to meet the widest audience in
a cost-effective manner, UNIAID approached Epic to create an engaging
online solution that would entertain and assist.
The Solution
The structure and style of the game was developed during focus
group sessions facilitated by Epic and through these sessions it
was discovered that the target audience have a keen interest in
the financial implications of attending university. All About U
offers the chance to discover the consequences of self-financial
management without the strife this may cause. As Epic Director of
Education, John Harris, said, “People learn by doing,
so how better to teach a potential student about debt than by letting
them experience it? Working with UNIAID on All About U is a great
opportunity to develop an innovative approach to tackling real issues.”
The Outcome
‘All About U’ is an ingenious, online game for 16 –
19 year olds that employs a simulation-based approach. The game
provides plenty of opportunities for fun and interactivity as prospective
students make decisions on subjects such as where to study, what
to study and how much to spend on books, beer, clothes and entertainment.
What makes the game realistic is that, as in the real world, some
of the decisions taken by the user will be irrevocable and have
dire consequences. To spread information, Epic instigated a viral
marketing campaign based on the Student Survivor mini-game, created
for the project by Kerb. Within months, more than a million users
had registered to play giving great exposure to the All About U
game. At the official launch, the Minister of State for Higher Education
and Lifelong Learning, Bill Rammell, said, “This is
a fantastic example of collaboration across the public, private
and voluntary sectors. I am delighted to see such innovative partnership
work.” Alistair Lomax, Executive Director and Project
Leader for UNIAID commented, “We’ve thrown many
challenges at Epic: punishing schedules, ambitious briefs, tight
budgets. It’s been a relief working with the team. Nothing
has fazed them.”
Next steps
Since it’s launch All About U has continued to be a success,
“People who use it absolutely love it”
says Alistair Lomax. It has launched a range of products and support
services including Student Survivor 2 and the Student Calculator.
Workshop materials, developed with HEFCE, to support the use of
All About U in schools and colleges are currently being piloted
with great success.
All About U is available free, online now at http://www.allaboutu.org.uk
For more information about UNIAID, including links to the free
Student Survivor 2 and Student Calculator visit http://www.uniaid.org.uk
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