A thirty-four year old project manager is thinking about a masters. She works full time, has a degree from a decade ago in an unrelated subject, and wants to know whether that is a problem, whether she can study evenings and what it will cost her in total.
None of those questions appear on a page written for school leavers.
What postgraduate applicants ask
They usually ask whether their degree subject or classification qualifies them, whether professional experience counts instead, whether part-time or evening study is available, how many hours a week it takes, who teaches or supervises, what funding or employer routes exist, when intakes start, whether credit transfers and what the total cost is.
Entry with a non-standard background
This is the question that decides whether many applicants proceed at all. Publishing that experience is considered, and what evidence helps, keeps a strong candidate in the process instead of letting them rule themselves out silently.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a university might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Applicant: My degree is in a different subject. Can I still apply? Assistant: The course page lists the entry requirements and explains that relevant professional experience is considered alongside qualifications. Whether your background meets it is for the admissions team to judge, so I can pass your details on. Could you tell me your degree subject and roughly how many years you have worked in the field?
Applicant: Can I do this while working full time? Assistant: The page shows the part-time route, its duration and the expected weekly study hours, along with when teaching is timetabled. It also explains which elements need attendance and which are online.
Applicant: I want to do a PhD in this area. Who would I work with? Assistant: The research page lists staff and their areas, and explains how to approach a potential supervisor before applying, including what the initial proposal should cover.
Research applicants need supervisor fit
A research enquiry is really asking whether anyone there works on their topic. Making staff research interests findable, and explaining how to approach a supervisor, converts enquiries that otherwise go to another institution.
Career outcomes decide it for many
Postgraduate applicants are usually making a calculation about where the qualification takes them. Publishing what graduates go on to do, which professional bodies recognise the course and what placement or industry links exist answers the question sitting underneath every enquiry, which is whether the time and the fees will be worth it.
Returning after years away
Applicants who last studied a decade ago worry about academic writing, referencing and whether they will cope. Explaining what support exists, and that many students are in exactly that position, removes a barrier that has nothing to do with ability.
Funding is the deciding factor
Scholarships, studentships, loans, employer sponsorship and instalments. The clarity described in fees and funding questions from prospective students matters even more here, because postgraduate applicants are usually funding themselves.
International postgraduates
They ask about visas, dependants, work rights and English requirements, which need official sources rather than an institution's summary.
Applicants enquire at working hours' edges
Evenings, lunch breaks and weekends, which is the pattern in prospective student questions that arrive after open days.
Professional courses have their own rules
Regulated routes carry requirements that must come from official sources, as in teacher training enquiries that need careful answers, and the general boundary is described in how financial advisors use chatbots to answer client questions.
Getting started
Publish part-time routes, entry flexibility, supervision and funding, then capture background and intake interest at any hour. SpideyChat for education providers answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about answers on the features page.