Helping students get instant, accurate answers.
UOW College
Education
When students are expecting immediate answers
Choosing to study in a new country is one of the most significant decisions a person can make. For prospective international students considering UOW College, the questions start well before they apply, and they don't stop once they enrol.
What courses are available? What English score do I need? What happens after I submit my application? What do I do if I miss an exam?
These questions arrive in every timezone, in every language, through every channel, and answering them takes a lot of time from staff. Often these queries are straightforward, and the information could easily be made available to students, and staff time better spent on complex, human-centred support.
UOW Global Enterprises recognised the opportunity clearly. A lot of the content to answer these questions already existed on its website. What was needed was a way to make it available to students in a form that would better meet their needs and importantly it needed to be accurate and scalable, without placing more weight on already stretched teams.
Implementing AI to meet student needs
Pollen's AI product, Wizen, was deployed as a website-embedded AI assistant, trained exclusively on UOW College content. Whether a student is asking about English proficiency requirements, visa documentation, accommodation options, or what happens on census day, every response is drawn from verified institutional sources, not the open web.
The assistant handles the full arc of the student journey from pre-application, through enrolment, and into studying. It provides information on academic policies, timetables, fee payment options, and how to access support services, just as some examples.
Multilingual capability is built in, allowing students to interact in their preferred language. This is a meaningful accessibility feature for the predominantly international cohort UOW College serves.
Behind every interaction is a real-time administrative dashboard that gives UOW College teams full visibility into query volumes, response quality, and content performance. When a topic generates repeated questions or uncertain answers, staff can see it immediately and act. The platform reveals where the institution's content needs to work harder.
Safety guardrails are configured throughout, including content filtering, PII redaction, and moderation endpoints, ensuring the assistant operates reliably within institutional and regulatory expectations.
Operational efficiency and a better student experience, together
Prospective students get accurate, instant answers to complex admissions questions at any hour, reducing drop-off during the consideration and application stages.
Current students can self-serve on routine queries regarding timetables, deadlines, policies, support contacts, and more, without waiting for a staff response.
Staff spend less time on high-volume, repetitive enquiries and more time on the complex situations where human support genuinely matters.
UOW College gains continuous insight into what students are asking, surfacing content gaps and informing a broader roadmap for AI-enabled student experience.