The Progression Plus service, alongside the Degree Course Finder, also launched in February 2013, promotes courses at partnering higher education institutions to Pearson’s 1.7 million learners worldwide.

Rebecca Spanos, Progression and Recognitions Manager at Pearson Qualifications International, explained that the company is investing time and money to develop the service further in the coming year.

The Progression Plus service promotes higher education institutions through three levels of partnerships

“We are spending 2014 really taking a look at what our students want and what our universities want so we offer the best service possible,” she told The PIE News.

The majority of its current university partners are based in the UK but Pearson is keen to increase collaborations in other study destinations, especially the US.

The collaboration with US agency WE Group will potentially enable the AIRC-certified company to offer progression pathways at over 3,000 US institutions offering 4- year degree programmes. It already offers academic preparation programmes and works with 65 US universities.

“The US is a big market and different from what we’re used to so we sought out a partner to help us,” commented Spanos.

Established out of a demand for career and degree guidance among Pearson learners, the Progression Plus service promotes higher education institutions through three levels of partnerships.

Free of charge, institutions accepting one or more of Pearson’s qualifications can be listed on its Degree Course Finder website.

For £2,500 a year, universities receive a profile page and a banner advert on the Degree Course Finder site as well as exclusive marketing through social media channels.

At £2,500 plus an agreed commission per learner,  the highest level of collaboration involves allowing students to apply directly to the university via the Progression Plus website, options to access a £500 tuition bursary, direct to learner webinars, international student exhibitions and direct engagement at one of Pearson’s 9,500 centres worldwide.

Traditionally offering language and academic qualifications, Pearson’s move toward marketing services marks a shift in its business model to include more direct-to-learner strategies.

“The profile of the learner is changing– they know that a degree increases their learning potential… Pearson knows that we have to change the way that we work in order to understand the new generation of learners to be successful,” said Spanos.

“Pearson knows that we have to change the way that we work in order to understand the new generation of learners to be successful”

But she added that the services are not recruitment tools for institutions.

“We know that learners want options and we want learners to know that there are fantastic universities all over the world that they can go to or professional bodies that they can join but we’re not making any promises about enrolments.”

Further expansion of Progression Plus and the Degree Course Finder include relaunching both websites by summer of this year and offering in-depth performance analysis of the university’s profile page.

The Degree Course Finder website currently receives 600 visits per week from key markets including the UK, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cyprus, and India.