Hello, I’m Abbie and I’ve been part of the web team here at Exeter for around nine years. I work on collaborative web projects across a range of areas and I’m also the team lead for the postgraduate taught (PGT) website.
I have a background in web editing and digital marketing, with previous roles across a variety of industries, including travel, insurance and financial services, as well as working for a digital agency. The higher education sector, however, was a new and exciting challenge for me, and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in and start learning.
Several years ago, the team undertook a large-scale project to migrate the postgraduate website into our recruitment templates. These are our newer-style templates, which have since been implemented across the sites we create. Since the initial migration, we’ve continued to look at ways to improve our PGT site navigation, content and layout, helping our audiences find the information they’re looking for in the most engaging way.
This year, I’ve been involved in several exciting projects. I worked with colleagues to help create our new Subject pages, which bring together courses at all levels, from undergraduate and Masters to postgraduate research opportunities. During the summer, I worked alongside the Campaigns team to create the web content for our Clearing campaign. With a colleague, I’m currently also upgrading our suite of T4 training videos and web support materials.
I’m now preparing for our next PGT website rollover – the time of year when our portfolio of new and existing postgraduate courses opens for applications for 2027 entry.
My role is diverse. One minute I might be creating pages for new courses, troubleshooting technical issues, liaising with academics on course updates or discussing the latest course developments in meetings. No two days are the same. It’s all hands-on deck for bigger projects such as the annual rollover, where planning well in advance helps ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Alongside the bigger projects, I also enjoy the smaller details and the process of refining content to make it the best version it can be.
One of the things I enjoy most about my job is working collaboratively, not just with colleagues within my team, but with people across a wide range of departments. From Strategic Marketing and the Campaigns team to Admissions and Student Recruitment, SEO, Programme Development, Quality and Standards and more, we all have a key role to play. Ultimately, we share the common goal of ensuring our prospective and current students have the best possible online experience.
My free time is often spent in a pair of wellies, with hay in my hair, as you’ll usually find me at the stables looking after and exploring the countryside with my beloved horse, Nessie! My three-year-old Labrador retriever, Flint, also keeps me running around. We love discovering new walks in nearby forests and along the coast – although he has a particular love of muddy puddles!
The team is always open to hearing new ideas, so if you have anything you’d like to run past us for consideration as a web project or website improvement, feel free to get in touch – digitalteam@exeter.ac.uk