Students Put Their Digital Marketing Skills to the Test in Live College Campaign

Students studying BTEC Digital Marketing at The Henley College have showcased their creativity and industry knowledge by developing social media campaigns promoting the College as part of a live marketing brief.

The project formed part of Unit 17: Digital Marketing Campaign, where students were challenged to apply the skills they have developed throughout the course to a real-world assignment. Rather than creating a campaign for a fictional organisation, students were tasked with producing digital marketing content to promote The Henley College itself, making the project both authentic and highly relevant to their future careers.

Working individually, students created engaging social media videos promoting either The Henley College as a whole or one of its academic or vocational subject areas. Their campaigns were aimed at prospective 16 to 17-year-old students and were designed to showcase the College's outstanding facilities, vibrant student experience and wide range of courses, while demonstrating a clear understanding of audience engagement and digital marketing techniques.

To add an extra level of excitement, the assignment culminated in a competition, with the shortlisted campaigns assessed by a judging panel comprising Principal Simon Spearman and Head of Marketing, Communications and Engagement Rhian Mason.

Congratulations to the winners:

1st Place: Trey Hamilton 2nd Place: Maya Piechota 3rd Place: Cerys McConnell

Trey's winning TikTok campaign particularly impressed the judges with its creativity, excellent understanding of the brief and target audience, and its ability to communicate The Henley College's brand values. The campaign also showcased the College's exceptional facilities and beautiful Henley-on-Thames location in a fresh and engaging way.

Veena Pandey, Business Lecturer at The Henley College, said:

"This assignment gave students the opportunity to experience what it's like to work on a genuine client brief, applying the digital marketing knowledge and skills they have developed throughout the course. The quality of the campaigns was excellent and demonstrated creativity, commercial awareness and a real understanding of how to engage a target audience through digital content. I am incredibly proud of what they achieved."

Simon Spearman, Principal of The Henley College, said:

"The creativity, professionalism and enthusiasm shown by our students was outstanding. It was fantastic to see them applying their learning to a real marketing challenge while developing valuable employability skills that will prepare them for university and the workplace. The standard of the shortlisted entries was exceptionally high."

Rhian Mason, Head of Marketing, Communications and Engagement at The Henley College, said:

"It was fascinating to see our College through the eyes of our students. The strongest campaigns demonstrated a clear understanding of their target audience and used creative storytelling to communicate what makes The Henley College such a special place to study. From a marketing perspective, it was encouraging to see students applying genuine marketing principles, combining audience insight, branding and digital content creation to produce campaigns with real impact."

Projects such as this provide students with valuable experience of responding to live briefs, helping them develop practical skills in audience research, branding, campaign planning, content creation and digital communications while building a portfolio of work that reflects current industry practice.

Thinking about your next step after Year 11? It's not too late to apply to The Henley College for September 2026. Apply online today at www.henleycol.ac.uk. If you need advice after receiving your GCSE results, our dedicated GCSE Advisory Service will be available from 9.30am on GCSE Results Day. Visit the Advisory Service desk at The Henley College or call our dedicated Results Day hotline on 01491 634321 for expert guidance on your options.