Times Course Finder: Turning Global Study Search into One Connected Journey

Client: Times Consultant
Product: Times Course Finder
Project: Product design and platform development
Industry: Education technology · International education
Services: Product strategy · UX/UI design · Platform development · Content architecture · Search experience
Website: timescoursefinder.com

Introduction

Finding an international course often requires information to be collected from many different sources. Universities must be researched, entry requirements must be reviewed, tuition fees must be considered, scholarships must be identified, and suitable programmes must be compared before an application can be started.

Times Course Finder was developed to bring these decisions into one connected platform. Courses, universities, scholarships, destinations, and application services were organised around a clear student journey: Discover, Compare, and Apply.

Students were given the flexibility to begin with what they already knew. A subject, qualification, destination, university, or scholarship could be explored, while filters were provided to narrow a large collection of opportunities into more relevant choices.

Once suitable programmes had been found, they could be saved or compared side by side. An application could then be started and its progress could be followed through the same platform. When personal assistance was required, access to Times Consultant’s counselling services was kept within the experience.

About the Client

Times Course Finder is an education technology product of Times Consultant, an international education consultancy that has supported students since 2004.

The product was created to extend that experience beyond a conventional consultation model. Instead of requiring every student journey to begin with an adviser, access to international study information was made available through a searchable digital platform.

A broad catalogue of courses, universities, destinations, and scholarships was brought together with the guidance offered by experienced education counsellors. Independent research and human support were therefore connected rather than treated as separate services.

Through Times Course Finder, students can explore their options at their own pace while retaining a direct route to programme selection, document preparation, application support, visa counselling, and personalised guidance.

The Challenge: Making Global Study Choices Easier

International study options are spread across thousands of courses, universities, destinations, and scholarship providers. Important details such as tuition fees, entry requirements, programme duration, and application procedures often need to be collected from different sources.

For students, this can make comparison difficult and decision-making overwhelming. Suitable opportunities may be missed, while the path from initial research to submitting an application may remain unclear.

A platform was therefore needed through which global study opportunities could be searched, filtered, compared, saved, and pursued within one connected experience. The scale of the available information had to be managed without making the interface feel complicated, while access to personal guidance also needed to remain available.

Project Goals

The platform was planned around five core goals:

• International courses, universities, and scholarships were to be made easier to discover.

• Large volumes of information were to be organised through clear search and filtering tools.

• Programmes were to be compared through consistent and relevant information.

• The journey from initial research to application was to be connected within one platform.

• Personal guidance from Times Consultant was to remain accessible whenever additional support was required.

Understanding the Student Decision Journey

A student’s search does not always begin with the name of a university or programme. It may begin with a preferred destination, an area of study, a qualification level, a scholarship requirement, or a general ambition to study abroad.

The experience was therefore organised around several possible starting points. Courses could be explored by subject, level, country, city, or region, while universities and scholarships were given their own discovery paths.

Once an opportunity had been identified, the next steps were kept connected. A programme could be reviewed, saved, compared, or taken forward into an application without requiring the search process to be restarted.

From Information Overload to Guided Discovery

International education involves a large volume of information. Programme details, tuition fees, study modes, durations, entry requirements, scholarship opportunities, and university information must often be reviewed together.

Rather than presenting this information as one extensive directory, it was divided into progressive stages. Broad exploration was supported first, after which filters could be used to create a more relevant set of results.

The experience was designed to move students through three principal actions:

Discover

Courses, universities, destinations, and scholarships could be explored through multiple entry points.

Compare

Suitable programmes could be reviewed side by side so that important differences could be understood more easily.

Apply

Once a decision had been made, an application could be started and further guidance could be requested.

Website Architecture

The platform architecture was organised around the complete study-abroad journey rather than a single search function.

Primary routes were created for course discovery, universities, scholarships, destinations, comparison, applications, and saved opportunities. Supporting routes were included for counselling, visa guidance, document preparation, departure, accommodation, and educational resources.

This structure allowed independent research and consultant-supported services to be accessed through the same platform.

Search and Filtering at Scale

A large international course catalogue could not be made useful through browsing alone. Detailed filtering was therefore placed at the centre of the search experience.

Results could be narrowed through criteria such as:

• Study destination

• Degree level

• Academic discipline

• Specialisation

• Institution type

• Study mode

• Programme duration

• Tuition range

• Language of instruction

Course cards were structured so that important information could be reviewed without opening every result. The institution, location, qualification, duration, delivery method, language, and indicative tuition fee were presented consistently.

The amount of information was therefore kept manageable, even when thousands of potential opportunities were available.

Designing for Trust and Clarity

International study decisions involve a significant commitment of time and money. Information therefore needed to feel structured, credible, and easy to verify.

Consistent programme cards were used so similar information could be reviewed across multiple results. University, course, scholarship, and destination pages were separated clearly, while access to expert advisers was maintained throughout the experience.

Educational articles were also included to answer common questions about applications, language tests, destinations, and study requirements.

Trust was supported not through one claim, but through the combined presence of useful information, transparent programme details, structured guidance, and accessible human support.

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The Complete Student Journey

A connected journey was created across the platform:

Explore → Filter → Review → Save → Compare → Apply → Track → Receive Guidance

Each step was designed to answer a different student need. Exploration supported early research, filtering reduced the number of options, comparison supported decision-making, and application tools allowed a selected opportunity to be taken forward.

Personal guidance remained available throughout the journey, ensuring that the digital experience could support students without isolating them from experienced advisers.

Outcome

Times Course Finder was delivered as a scalable education platform through which international courses, universities, scholarships, and application support could be accessed within one connected experience.

The platform moved beyond simple course search. Discovery, shortlisting, comparison, applications, progress tracking, and personal guidance were brought together, allowing students to move from early research to meaningful action without leaving the wider Times Consultant ecosystem.

Measurable Digital Growth

Strong adoption was recorded during the reporting period from January to the date of the analytics report:

• 662,000 active users

• 4.2 million recorded events

• 18,000 key events

• 2,008.2% growth in active users

• 608.6% growth in event activity

A Large International Study Database

Access was provided to study opportunities across more than 63 countries, supported by a growing collection of universities, programmes, and scholarships.

Across the ten supplied subject areas alone, 300,569 course records were made available:

• 82,339 Arts and Humanities courses

• 51,044 Business and Management courses

• 36,537 Engineering and Technology courses

• 29,061 Physical Science and Mathematics courses

• 28,743 Health and Medicine courses

• 23,055 Computer and IT courses

• 21,445 Life Sciences courses

• 18,706 Education courses

• 6,729 Law courses

• 2,910 Architecture courses

Universities and Scholarships Made Discoverable

Universities and funding opportunities were presented as dedicated discovery experiences rather than being treated as secondary course information.

Students could explore institutions by country, city, and region, while scholarships could be reviewed according to destination, qualification level, and provider. Opportunities from countries including the United States, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, Malaysia, Japan, and New Zealand were made easier to discover.

The platform currently communicates access to:

• 1,000+ universities

• 63+ countries

• 1,000+ scholarships

A Scalable Digital Product for Times Consultant

Through Times Course Finder, Times Consultant’s education experience was extended into a digital product capable of supporting a much larger audience.

A stronger bridge was established between online discovery and personal consultation. Students were given greater control over their initial research, while qualified enquiries could still be guided through course selection, documentation, admission, visa preparation, and departure planning.

The result was a more accessible and scalable study-abroad experience, one through which complex international education choices could be explored with greater clarity and confidence.