What's on the student calendar for Q1 2025? 

Cold days, long nights… it must be that time of the year again.

But with every new year comes new opportunities and, for Gen Z, there are plenty of key moments on the horizon that brands should be tapping into to secure that highly coveted lifetime loyalty.

Not sure where to start? You’ve landed in the right place. Download the latest UNiDAYS Student Sentiment Report to get your foot in the door with Gen Z in Q1.

We’ll be talking:

• Students’ key moments that you won’t want to miss
• How Gen Z is feeling about the next few months (and how you can help them)
• Why the student sentiment is shifting in Q1 
• Exactly where and when students will be spending this quarter 
• Everything you need to supercharge your Gen Z marketing strategy

And that’s just scratching the surface. Download the report now to get a head start with students in the new year and beyond.

Key dates: what’s on the Gen Z calendar?

Let’s get straight into it–what’s on the horizon for students and, more importantly, what can you do to help them with their biggest concerns?

January:

• Return to campus
• January Loan Drop
• Exams
• January sales
• Surge in Health & Fitness engagements

February: 

• Studying and preparing for exams and deadlines
• Valentine’s Day
• Back to routines of commuting, working and uni life

• Tightening budgets before a new Loan Drop
• Mother’s Day
• Spring travel

What does supporting Gen Z really look like?

To understand how your brand can help students, we first need to consider how Gen Z is feeling about the coming months.

Generally, students are more positive as they head into a new calendar year. Emotions like happiness and excitement are higher than in the previous quarter, while others, like anxiety, nervousness and apprehension have all dropped.

On the other hand, Gen Z remains the most anxious, nervous and overwhelmed generation of all, highlighting the fact that supporting with their top concerns is the key to winning with this notoriously tricky generation. And what do they say would help?

• Academic studies: 54% of Gen Z say that study tools would help with their academic concerns
• Cost of living: 61% of students think that student discounts would alleviate their cost of living concerns
• Budgeting: 53% of young people agree that student discounts would help them with budgeting concerns
• Personal health and wellbeing: 37% of Gen Z want student mental health apps to support their personal health and wellbeing

Gen Z discovery: how to get started

It’s all well and good if you’re positioned to support students, but it’s important that you’re shouting about it in places where they’re actually listening. Gen Z’s preference for discovering new brands, products and services is online. Like millennials, they enjoy finding out about offers and deals via social media platforms to a much greater extent than older generations.

Top preference by generation:

• Gen Z: Social media
• Millennials: Weekly emails
• Gen X and boomers: Loyalty card schemes

However, don’t underestimate the power of the in-store experience. More than 1 in 5 students tell us they discover brands and deals via in-store signage and, with certain categories in particular (think fashion, tech, groceries), the physical experience plays a huge part in Gen Z’s purchasing decisions.

What does that mean? Essentially, during the first few months of the year, your brand can tap into Gen Z by cutting them a break when they need it most. Support their goals with targeted offers, promotions and incentives that resonate with students and, most importantly, let them know you’re on their side.

Let’s make 2025 a year to remember

Keeping up with the trials and tribulations of the student calendar is no easy feat. Luckily, we’re the Gen Z experts and we’re poised to support your brand to smash its marketing goals with young people.

So, what are you waiting for? Get actionable Gen Z insights like these and put your brand directly in front of 29m+ verified members with UNiDAYS.

Ready?

Talk to UNiDAYS