Study Buddy

The North East Uni Connect Programme is a partnership between the universities and colleges in the North East who are working together to support young people and their key support networks (parents/carers and teachers/advisers) to explore the range of options throughout their education. Their work aims to remove the academic, financial and cultural barriers to higher education to ensure that all young people, irrespective of circumstance, have the information, skills and support to achieve their ambitions.

FutureMe had an existing Study Buddy application live on the app store, however, its design and framework had become dated, and as such a refresh was required to build on and grow engagement from their main user groups (Level 3 students in the North East). The introduction of the new app has allowed the service to become open to any student. We encouraged a platform built in Flutter, owing to the increased ease of management across both iOS and Android codebases, and reliability on lower specification devices

We have a longstanding partnership with one of the key universities in the programme, and so were able to grasp the requirements and realities of student-facing applications quickly. The solution we proposed allowed for the easy integration of content into the application with a smooth backend to run alongside.

Within the new Study Buddy application, we've implemented a powerful media manager that helps give students access to high-quality images and audio full of helpful hints and tips.

Content within the application can be made specific to the user, allowing for highly tailored app experiences across the institutions involved. Alongside this, special attention has been made for the provision of content pertaining to academic resilience and successful study habits. 

Information on progression routes and pathways and the benefits of higher education, following the completion of a students course can also be found on the app, furthering its reach as an essential tool.