Spaces is the next evolution of Community, designed to help you bring students together in a way that feels intuitive, welcoming, and genuinely useful.
Replacing traditional Groups, Spaces move beyond basic group chats to create purpose-driven environments where students can connect, explore, and find answers with ease.
Each Space is thoughtfully designed, with eye-catching cover imagery (either uploaded by your team or generated with AI) and searchable, threaded conversations that make it easy for students to jump in at any time, without getting lost in the noise.
Your Spaces are absolutely key to the success of your Community - helping your students discover the conversations that matter most to them - whether that's life and culture locally, finding accommodation, moving to a new country as an international student, or meeting fellow K-pop fans.
In this article, we’ll walk through some best practices for creating and managing Spaces that drive engagement, build belonging, and give your students the best possible experience.
Our recommendations
We've sifted through the good, and the not so good, so you don't have to! Here's what we have seen work in Community, and what we'd recommend when you create your Spaces.
University admin participation
Are you a University Admin in your Community? Limit your involvement to one key Space - for example, Your Questions Answered - and your Updates channel. This way, students know where to find you if they need you, but their Community remains authentic and peer-driven.
Please note that in its first iteration, you will only be able to access Spaces in your Community on the Unibuddy app.
A dedicated Q&A Space, alongside timely and insightful Updates, becomes a trusted source of truth, whilst students can still feel safe sharing their honest experiences, opinions, and advice in interest or identity-based Spaces, boosting organic engagement.
How many Spaces should I create?
This largely depends on the size of your Community, and how many students you are inviting. A small postgraduate cohort of 150, for example, would feel lost in a Community with 30 Spaces. We recommend starting with 6 high-impact Spaces.
📣 Please note: When creating a new Community, you must add Spaces before you launch, so your students have forums in which to interact, meet others, and engage.
If you anticipate a thriving Community of upwards of 5000 students, why not let the Community grow with your cohort? Start broad and welcoming, and proactively invite requests for new Spaces. This lets your students tailor their Community, and plugs them into the narrative - increasing belonging.
Offer holder / accepted student Community
Offer holders or accepted students is still our number one use case for Community: helping incoming students to picture themselves at your university. Here's some ideas for Spaces for an offer holder or accepted student/admit Community:
🙋🏽♀️ Your questions answered
The one Space where uni admins are active. Events, deadlines, next steps to enrolment - clear, official answers in one place.🏡 Accommodation & moving in
Halls/dorms vs private housing, finding roommates, what to pack, timelines, photos, and lived experiences from your Student Ambassadors.🌍 International students
Arrivals, culture shock, language support, and making friends far from home.🧠 Neurodivergent students
Sharing study strategies, support services, and personal experiences in a low-pressure environment.🏫 Life on campus
Day-to-day routines, favourite study spots, food, libraries, and student hacks.🥏 Societies & sports
From rowing to rock climbing, anime to techno - great for Student Ambassadors and society leaders to spark excitement.📚 Subject-specific Spaces (e.g. Psychology offer holders, Engineering offer holders)
A chance to meet classmates, discuss subject-specific interests, and get ahead of recommended prep.👾 Hobbies & interests
Swifties, gamers, gym buddies, foodies, bibliophiles - fun, informal Spaces that foster real belonging.
Prospective student Community
Here, your Spaces should reduce intimidation, spark curiosity, and help students imagine themselves at your university without pushing for commitment too soon.
🙋🏽♀️ Ask us anything
A broad, welcoming Q&A Space for informal questions - admissions basics, entry requirements, and anything else on prospect's minds. This should be moderated by admins and/or ambassadors.🎓 Why students chose {your university name}
Story-led conversations from your Student Ambassadors about motivations, doubts, and why they made their decision. This works well as social proof, without sounding too much like marketing.🏫 Life at [University name]
The reality of student life: timetables, social life, workload, housing, part-time jobs.📖 Explore your subject (either one Space, or broad subject clusters)
Meet others interested in the same subject, open days, taster content, reading suggestions, or “things I wish I’d known before choosing my course.”🌍 International students
Especially valuable early. Many international prospects emphasise location, friendship networks, and the support available as they search and shortlist.👋 Meet our students AMA
Honest insights, ambassador-led threads, and Ask Me Anything prompts.🪁 Hobbies & interests
Music, gaming, sport, creative interests, food, local nightlife, and culture.📃 Personal statement / admissions essay / application hub
Advice on personal statement questions/admissions essays, and tips and resources for submitting an application. Real-time AMA sessions with admissions staff could also be hosted here.
Ambassador Community
Your Student Ambassadors are representing your institution, so Spaces within an Ambassador Community should support training, collaboration, and recognition - alongside a social element.
❓ Admin Q&A
All guidelines, events, and tricky questions go here. This keeps admin visibility without dominating all Spaces - and Ambassadors know where to go if they need help.👟 Training & resources
Guides, webinars, FAQs, and best practices, so Ambassadors can self-serve and continuously build on their knowledge.🏆 Wins & shoutouts
Celebrate successes - positive anecdotes, engaging Content, best in class Community contributions, and taking the initiative.👯 Peer mentoring / buddying
Newer Ambassadors can ask questions and receive guidance from experienced Ambassadors.☕️ Ambassador coffee lounge
Memes, hobbies, weekend plans - an informal spot to chat that's fun and low-pressure.💡 Share your ideas
Suggestions for Community, new Spaces, content ideas, or in-Community campaigns.
Ready to find out how to create Spaces? Click the button below!