National Film & Television School

Increasing leads by 20%

Laptop displaying homepage of National Film and Television School's (NFTS) education web design, built bespoke and responsive in Drupal CMS

The client.

The National Film & Television School (NFTS) is a renowned UK institution for film, television, and games education, offering practical training and expertise to aspiring filmmakers, animators, and industry professionals. The school has received numerous awards including BAFTAs and numerous alumni have gone on to work in Hollywood.

The challenge.

NFTS challenged Contra to produce a fresh website that represented the school’s creativity and prestige. However, the website was inflexible in showcasing the various hubs in a user-friendly design as the school expanded across the UK. The site also lacked API integration with the schools current database, meaning an admin deluge for its team members.

The strategy.

Execute internal and external stakeholder interviews. Conduct site user behaviour, audience, keyword and traffic research. Produce a website strategy that covers site structure, user testing, content, design, and technology. Build the website and craft engaging copy designed to increase applications. Integrate the website with the existing database.

Laptop displaying National Film and Television School's (NFTS) bespoke web design within the education sector

What we did.

Student personas

We built up a series of student personas that, along with our research, informed our strategy. These personas took into account various demographic and psychographic data. This enabled us to create a hierarchy of information on the website pages based on what was most important to the specific personas. We discovered that the same courses were offered across different hubs with varying schedules, tutors, and slight content differences. Booking future courses required duplicating the course page, while the application system was complex and lacked integration with the student management system.

Optimising user experience

Recognising the importance of structured content, we restructured NFTS's website by implementing a combination of hierarchical and database architectural patterns. This intelligent approach ensures seamless navigation for users and improves search engine visibility. With the ability to easily navigate the site and find the course they were looking for, we also implemented a strategic approach to highlight NFTS's unique selling points. Prospective students were given access to a wealth of resources that highlighted why they should choose NFTS, with the aim of driving applications.

Bold, modern, and friendly design

Our research revealed how tutors at NFTS felt the existing website did not accurately reflect the school's quality. We created a design that reflected the modernity of the school with its unrivalled practical experience while being very video-driven. The user is taken on an engaging journey when exploring all areas of the site. The new, dynamic approach captured the vibrancy and energy of what life is like as a student at NFTS.
Increasing icon

11%

increase in applications overall

Increasing icon

125%

increase in applications for leading courses

Digital Impact Awards logo

Winner

of Gold Digital Impact Award

“We’ve had an 11% uplift in applications. The website has achieved our aim of being able to expand our offerings and bring our website into the now and also the future!”

Website Manager and Project Lead, National Film & Television School
Hazel Arthur-Hewitt Website Manager and Project Lead, National Film & Television School
Samuel Podina Contra Agency

Samuel

Senior Developer

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