Nottingham Trent University
NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY: TRANSFORMING STUDENT SUPPORT WITH AI
Nottingham Trent University (NTU), a substantial institution with around 40,000 students, began their AI journey pre-pandemic in 2019. What started as a simple proof of concept has evolved into a comprehensive AI-powered student services solution that has revolutionised how the university handles student enquiries.
Tony Green,
Head of Software Development & Architecture,
NTU
THE CHALLENGE
During the COVID-19 pandemic, NTU recognised the need for a centralised enquiry handling team - something they had never had before. As Tony Green, Head of Software Development and Architecture at NTU, explains:
"One of the things that COVID did for us was to make it apparent that we needed a centralised enquiry handling team, which we'd never had before. I think if a student had an issue, they'd go to their tutor, they'd go to the department or the area that was specific to the particular issue that they had."
The university formed a small team of 6-8 people to handle enquiries for 40,000 students and staff. However, once students returned to campus, it became clear that this team would struggle with the volume of enquiries without additional support.
THE SOLUTION: ICS.AI SMART: STUDENT SERVICES
NTU implemented ICS.AI's SMART: Student Services platform, rebranding their AI assistant as "Trent" and positioning it prominently on their website. The solution provides:
-
A first-line AI assistant capable of answering the majority of student enquiries
-
Integration with live chat for more complex questions
-
A comprehensive knowledge base created using generative AI technology
-
Seamless handover to human agents when needed
IMPLEMENTATION JOURNEY
NTU adopted a careful, phased approach:
-
Initial Proof of Concept (2019): A basic AI assistant connecting to timetabling information
-
Staff AI Assistant (2020): Implemented during COVID to support remote staff
-
Graduation Pilot (2021): Targeted implementation for the graduation process
-
Full Student Deployment: Expanded to support all student enquiries
THE RESULTS
HIGH RESOLUTION RATE
The AI assistant handles 90-95% of all student enquiries without human intervention
VOLUME MANAGEMENT
Consistent, accurate documentation that meets statutory requirements.
IMPROVED KNOWLEDGE BASE
Maintained the same small team size (8 people) despite significant growth in enquiry volumes
TRANSFORM PRODUCTIVITY
Leveraged generative AI to transform weeks of content auditing into a couple of days
WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH
TONY AT OUR RECENT WEBINAR
As Tony noted in a recent webinar:
"We had the opportunity of a student who wasn't able to get the answer from the AI assistant to put through to a live chat solution... but we found that around about 90 to 95 percent of the answers were being given by the AI assistant in the first instance."
FUTURE PLANS
Looking ahead, NTU is keen to:
-
Migrate to a fully generative AI-based solution to enhance personalisation and make knowledge base updates more straightforward
-
Explore teaching and learning co-pilots to support both students and staff
-
Focus on AI opportunities rather than just managing potential threats
In Tony's words:
"We're wrestling like every institution is with what AI means to us... but now we need to worry about rather than what's the AI threat, it's more about what's the opportunity. And I think the notion of a 24-7 available teaching friend, mentor, co-pilot to support students and to support staff with the building of courses is something that I think we will be extremely interested in."
ABOUT SMART: STUDENT SERVICES
SMART: Student Services from ICS.AI is a unified platform that provides seamless access to campus resources, including academic support, IT help, career counselling, and mental health services. The solution streamlines service delivery, achieving cost savings of 5-15% while significantly improving student experiences through personalised, AI-powered assistance. Find out more here.