For over a decade, Matt Bedwell, Operations Manager for Student Services at Cardiff Metropolitan University, has worked with Symplicity's UniHub platform. His verdict?

"Our use of UniHub is integral to the way Student Services and Employability runs at Cardiff Met. Without it, we probably wouldn't be able to achieve half as much as we do on a daily, weekly, monthly, even yearly basis."

When Bedwell arrived at Cardiff Met, UniHub had been implemented just six to twelve months prior. "There wasn't a specific person doing that before I started," he explains. "People were just muddling along. My role was to come in and make sure people were using it as effectively as possible." Throughout his journey, he's found invaluable support from Symplicity's client management team, particularly James Mears, Christian Jara, and John McMenamin. "You can always pose them a question and say we're trying to achieve this, and they'll always come back with something that helps you do what you need to do."

Driving Impact Across Multiple Initiatives

Over the past six months, Bedwell's team has tackled several major projects using UniHub. Their Shape Your Future skills development portfolio launched to enthusiastic feedback. "We've had some really great feedback from colleagues in terms of how it looks, how it works, how it flows through," says Bedwell. The team is already planning the next phase, incorporating activities and experiences features to create a tiered framework where students build portfolios for job applications.

When the counselling service faced resource reductions, the team used UniHub (branded as Met Hub at Cardiff Met) to streamline processes. Previously, students would be referred but never book appointments. Now, automated reminders prompt students to check Met Hub for availability. The results speak for themselves. "The counsellors have said it's actually helped them manage their workload a little bit better," Bedwell reports. "We're seeing fewer missed counselling appointments, which means the counselling resource, which is a precious resource here, is being used effectively."

The team also supports placement management through workflow features and has embedded action plans across Met Hub for the student retention team, helping support at-risk students from point of struggle through to success.

Forms, Workflows, and the Power of Data

When asked about standout features, Bedwell points to forms and workflows as operational cornerstones. "We couldn't run even half of our processes without forms or workflows. We've got quite a lot of complex forms in the system. They drive a lot of our automated processes, freeing up staff time to actually spend more time in front of students."

The team also leverages data export capabilities extensively, analyzing information to present insights about student engagement and educational impact across the university. "The ability to download what we need is really, really helpful because I know that's quite restrictive in some other systems," Bedwell notes.

A Flexible Toolbox for Problem-Solving

For institutions considering Symplicity, Bedwell offers this perspective: "I've heard it described once and I still use this: UniHub is a toolbox. You can do a lot of stuff with it, but it's having that confidence and ability to play and test and do. The flexibility that the system enables you to have is really invaluable for us as a university."

That flexibility means multiple approaches to solving problems rather than forcing processes to fit rigid system requirements. "If we've got a problem, there's about four or five different ways we can approach that using the tools we've got. We can kind of match the system to our processes to some extent."

Bedwell acknowledges the team is probably running too many functions off the platform—but that proves the point. "We're able to get a lot of work done, a lot of automation to enable the team to spend their valuable time seeing students and delivering the things that matter to students most. That's what it's all about."

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