Three highlights from Data Matters 2026

Data Matters 2026 brought together colleagues from across the Jisc family to share how data and collaboration can help universities navigate volatility with confidence, driving meaningful transformation. Simon Rust and Claire Bodiguel, Prospects education marketing experts, share their highlights…

Data Matters is the annual must-attend event for forward-thinking minds from education and research. This year's discussions reinforced the power of shared data, tools and expertise to help universities navigate immense change and support the student journey.

Here are our three standout themes.

1. Unified intelligence is delivering real value for universities

Prospects research on student perceptions and experiences, harnessed to HESA data and Jisc's suite of digital tools and learning analytics, provide a breadth of unparallelled insight.

The event showcased the many opportunities and benefits that can be realised from Jisc's connected ecosystem, from helping to navigate strategic challenges and financial pressures to remaining competitive through recruitment and improving the student experience.

Birmingham City University, Queen Mary University of London and the University of Suffolk came together to show how Jisc analytics is improving student engagement, and the University of Lancashire shared its data governance journey for the HESA student record.

Prospects showcased a successful campaign that we ran for the National Film and Television School utilising our Audience Message Platform (AMP) which combines intent signals, real-time web stats and HESA data to power effective student recruitment drives.

Access to experts from multiple teams and to a wide set of tools and datasets helps universities translate insights directly into action.

At the demo zones delegates took reassurance and confidence from knowing someone in the wider Jisc family could help - whether targeting international students, understanding retention patterns, or exploring engagement analytics. The sense of unified intelligence delivered through 'one Jisc' was a powerful takeaway.

2. Data is now everyone's business

A clear message throughout Data Matters was that data is no longer the preserve of planning or analytics specialists. Recruiters, marketers, international officers, and student support teams are increasingly using data from Jisc, Prospects and HESA to shape strategy.

This is reflected in our day jobs too. Where a decade ago we held student insight sessions for two or three recruiters or marketers, now we see 10 to 20 people from all aspects of HE. We're no longer partnering to promote an MBA to business students, we are probing deeper.

We're blending web analytics, Prospects behavioural research such as our Early Careers survey, labour market and Graduate Outcomes data, retention indicators and international patterns. Our Discover progression dashboard tracks the progression of undergraduate qualifiers into postgraduate education.

Understanding growing markets, where students are switching subjects, and current motivations are all components in the complex nature of recruitment campaign planning.

For example, a Welsh university postgraduate campaign might focus on students who went to university in England and returned to Wales to live with their parents to study their Masters and save on accommodation costs. But perhaps, the knowledge that China is sending fewer students to Wales than in previous years means it is more cost effective to allocate marketing spend towards other growing international markets.

The fantastic data and tools that we can share are important, not just for people operating in and around student recruitment and marketing, but for many other aspects of the university landscape. It's reshaping how universities target, prioritise and plan.

3. The need to look forward not back is more urgent than ever

That higher education can't afford nostalgia was echoed throughout the event. Whether it's country-level shifts, policy changes, or economic pressures, universities - like many other sectors and industries - are operating in a constant period of flux.

For student recruitment in particular, over the last decade we've seen rapid fluctuation in enrolment. While some institutions might have gone up 300%, others nosedived. In some subject areas, we're seeing entire faculties close.

Change can be worrisome, particularly when we don't quite know what that change will be, but the opening keynote address at Data Matters reminded everyone that the value of data is in the surprises it offers, rather than in reassurance.

The opening breakout session looked at how together we can find ways to build data foundations and capabilities that help navigate financial and operational challenges. Data driven forecasting, innovative scenario planning, and market diversification are essential and Jisc tools offer practical ways to start.

We have so much rich data available to us now. Insights and tools that track student motivations can help recruitment while engagement analysis can help institutions intervene before retention becomes an issue. And insights from Jisc can help identify opportunities that might otherwise be missed.

If there was one piece of advice to come out of Data Matters, it would be to just talk to us. Throughout the event it became evident just how much data, insight and expertise universities already have access to through Jisc, HESA and Prospects.

A conversation with your relationship manager doesn't require any commitment, but it can open doors to tools, datasets and guidance that help you to plan with confidence. In times of uncertainty, that first conversation can be the most valuable step you take.