Improving Student

Experience in Higher
Education
Although the UK leads the way in higher education (HE) with a
retention rate of 71%, many students still fall through the cracks.
The numbers are a cause for concern and a range of issues can
be pinpointed as the catalysts, such as a lack of counselling
support with there being a 50% rise in demand for such services.

Student wellbeing, participation, attainment and retention all

combine to make a complete university experience. However,
you might have competing priorities to deliver a well-rounded
student experience so you’re pulled in different directions to
complete other high-level projects. This could potentially take
some focus away from creating an institution-wide approach to
improving the student experience.

To ensure students leave your institution with the qualifications

they came for and enjoy their time there, you must focus on
improving the student experience. This is why we’ve created this
guide, to outline where institutions are at right now and where
we should be. We’ve also explained what an effective student
experience strategy looks like, tips on enhancing the student
experience and much more.

Student Experience in Higher Education

What Does an Effective Student Experience Strategy Look Like?

20 Tips to Enhance Student Experience

Your Next Steps…

View Our Events on Student Experience

Improving Student Experience in Higher Education

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Student Experience in Higher Education:

Where Are We and

Where Should We Be?

While many universities have their own definitions of student

experience, they do bear similarities. It all revolves around offering
the support they need, making students aware that there are
services available and providing an inclusive environment for them
to succeed.

With that as the core foundation, this is where many universities

branch off and offer something unique to their institution, be it
bespoke support services, forming partnerships with specialist
charities and more. The more complete the student experience
is in HE, the less likely it is for students to feel the need to drop
out of their programmes and more likely to achieve high-quality
learning outcomes and gain valuable life experience.

As students now look beyond grades and career prospects at the

end of a course, the importance of a complete and well-rounded
student experience is greater than ever.

In the year 2016/17, the percentage of university dropouts

after their first year of university stood at 6.3%, down
by only 0.1% from the previous year. However, the figure
has continued to grow with factors such as financial
pressures (79%), health issues (78%), academic pressures
and loneliness (46%) all impacting students.

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A Randstad study revealed 45% of students considered dropping
out of their course over the past year due to these factors while
The Guardian’s report found 78% of students suffered from mental
health problems.

The problems are clear, so it falls on your institution to offer and

promote easily accessible services. Although the issues are visible,
a lot is being done already to help students in HE. The Office for
Students’ latest annual review pinpointed the quality of teaching,
mental health, hate crime and sexual misconduct as some of the
biggest areas of concern.

The Quality of Teaching

Although overall student satisfaction is high with 83% of
students satisfied with their courses, the issue can be broken
down further. The satisfaction rates are around 20% lower for
lesbian, gay and bisexual students who reported issues such as
higher levels of anxiety.

Despite this, the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes

Framework (TEF) has recognised the excellence in HE teaching.
With over 70 universities in the UK receiving a Gold TEF award, it
signals the high-quality of teaching which suggests the majority of
students have a strong academic experience at university.

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Mental Health
Poor mental health among students in HE continues to remain
a major issue with 78% of students suffering from mental health
problems, a figure which has doubled from 2014/15. A Randstad
study has revealed 45% of students have considered dropping
out of their courses with aspects such as financial pressures,
health issues, career uncertainty, loneliness and other factors all
contributing to this decision and a rise in mental health reports.

Over a quarter of UK students experience their mental

wellbeing change for the worse since beginning their HE
journey. While in the country’s largest-ever mental health poll,
87.7% of students said they struggled with anxiety, 42.8%
describe themselves as always worried, 33% say they’re always
lonely - all factors which contribute to mental health issues.

So, there’s a need to offer more support and raise awareness of

any initiatives in place.

There’s still more that can be done to support students with

poor mental health. The OfS has invested £14.5 million across
10 projects to drive fundamental change involving charities
and the NHS last year and has since launched a new funding
competition.

The OfS has started a new £1 million funding competition which

aims to improve support for students with mental ill health.
Throughout this competition, the OfS has invited HE providers
to develop and implement projects which provide innovative
approaches to improving mental health outcomes. You can find
out more about the bids and priorities here.

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Hate Crime and
Sexual Misconduct
Sexual misconduct at universities is suffering from an alarming
increase, with an 82% rise in reports following a Channel 4
investigation. The outlet asked every UK university to provide
the number of sexual misconduct/assault incidents and out of
those that responded, there was a shocking rise of cases from
65 in 2014 - to 626 only two years ago.

Many are calling for institutions to break their silence around the
issue while others claim universities are failing their students in
this area. Often this boils down to being fearful of the impact
on their education, so many cases often go unreported and
students feel as if there’s a lack of support.

Hate crime is another prevalent issue impacting the student

experience and another area where more can and should be
done. A report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission
shows nearly a quarter of ethnic minority students have been
subject to racial harassment on campus.

Rewind a year and a National Union of Students survey showed

a third of Muslim students experienced a hate crime during
their time at university. The OfS has already distributed over
£4 million to 119 projects to tackle hate crime and sexual
misconduct both online and in-person across 71 HE institutions.

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What More Can HE
Institutions Do?

Tackling Sexual Harassment

You can do more by offering training, hiring specialist staff and
also looking into specialist online reporting tools that are both
promoted and easily accessible. This is something Professor
Emma Bond, Director of Research and Professor of Socio-
technical Research at the University of Suffolk, highlighted at the
third annual Tackling Sexual Violence and Harassment in Higher
Education Forum.

She discussed how it’s essential for institutions to promote digital

safety across HE to tackle online sexual harassment. During her
presentation, she revealed out of 130 institutions, there was little
evidence of online training and only 43 had named a member of
their university as the one responsible for student safeguarding.

Focus on Support Services

During her presentation, she also highlighted students were
experiencing more harassment (around 20% which is a 10%
increase), racial discrimination (also at around 20% which is a
5% increase) and other issues such as cyberbullying during their
time at university compared to one year before they started. It’s
evident that attitudes need to change despite the efforts of many
HE institutions, and one way to achieve this is to create bespoke,
personalised services for specific issues.

This is something Oxford University has developed. Its Wellbeing

and Support service offers multiple areas of advice and support
that can come from its Equality and Diversity Unit, Student Advice
Service, Disability Advisory Service or many others. When it’s clear
where students with questions or problems can go, retention rates
increase as the support is accessible.

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Don’t Neglect Experiences Through Teaching
The personalisation aspect is what Dr Emily McIntosh, Director
of Learning, Teaching and Student Experience at Middlesex
University, told us when we reached out to her. When discussing
the student experience challenges and where universities are at,
she highlighted:

“ [The] delivery of the student experience is largely dependent

on understanding student profiles and the wider student body.

[The] challenge is delivering inclusive learning opportunities

that speak to each learner [in] context. Quest is for structure,
consistency and personalisation. Learning conversations are
the future of the HE curriculum. Students crave personalisation
and a sense of belonging.

Students are entitled to expect a good overall experience

while studying at university. However, there are still significant
differences between different providers and how they address
issues to promote engagement and inclusivity. An example of
achieving this comes from Loughborough University, where
student representatives have become closely involved with the
delivery of curriculums.

With the university and student union strategies working together,

it helps achieve student buy-in and promote a higher level of
inclusivity and overall satisfaction. Despite the steps institutions
are taking, more students are still reporting poor mental health
which is a growing concern.

This should be enough to highlight the inadequacy of many

existing processes and how it’s time to adapt to improve the
student experience positively. To help make that change, it’s time
to refine your existing strategy to make it even more effective.

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What Does an Effective
Student Experience
Strategy Look Like?

Learning outcomes, quality of teaching and a vibrant campus

with appropriate facilities are all important and should heavily
feature in your student experience strategy. Although, all of these
are now somewhat to be expected of any HE institution as basic
necessities.

However, the student experience must also focus on the wellbeing

and inclusion aspect which is why it’s beneficial to revisit your
existing student experience strategy and refine it to meet
constantly-evolving students’ needs.

This set of actions and policies helps to create a supportive,

collaborative and inclusive educational environment students
crave. In your strategy, ensure you focus on curriculum, student
unions, wellbeing and also the wider university estate.

As you can imagine, no two strategies in HE will be identical.

Each institution will have something unique and tailored to their
students’ needs - but there are key practices that crossover and
should feature in every effective student experience strategy.

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Commit to Improving Your
Education Offering
The type of learning and feedback is something prominent in
the University of Derby’s strategy. At the Effectively Enhancing
Student Engagement Across Higher Education forum, John Hill,
Head of Digital Learning at the University of Derby, showcased a
case study promoting digital learning.

He revealed that only 41% of students in HE agreed their course

prepared them for the digital workplace. He referred to the digital
experience insights survey where students continued to express
these concerns about their courses failing to prepare them for
what was to come - an issue which needed urgent attention.

To cater to the needs, the University of Derby created digital

champions, ensuring all students, regardless of background,
received an excellent digital learning experience by engaging
them in the way they wanted to learn by picking up digital skills.

Students from the UK studying at the university and even

those that came from around the world, such as Romania and
Zimbabwe, were successfully engaged through a digital discovery
tool. It allowed them to explore their digital capabilities through
reflective questions and offered results through a digital capability
profile, highlighting which digital skills they were still developing,
they were at a capable level or they were proficient in.

As an outcome, not only did it make students feel more ready for
a digital workplace, but it also changed their attitudes to digital
learning by embedding it throughout relevant programmes.

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Shape the Curriculum
Based on Feedback
Students need to have some say when it comes to their
learning. This helps to achieve buy-in from the student
community and provides a fairer offering. By listening, it allows
students to give feedback so you can act on their comments.

Continue Refining
Your Curriculum
Feedback shouldn’t be a one-time thing, it should aid long-
term improvements. Make it a regular occurrence so you
can help review and develop your institution’s educational
portfolio, ensuring they’re relevant and feature modules and
opportunities students seek.

Make the Learning

Environment Universally-
Accessible
Due to unforeseen circumstances out of their control, students
may not always attend lectures, seminars and workshops. If the
learning environment is inaccessible and you’re not catering to
that, it hinders their learning. Lectures, seminars and workshops
should be recorded and uploaded to your online hub or Moodle.

Whether it’s to benefit students who miss these learning

opportunities because of illness or for those with hearing, sight
or learning difficulties, it shows you’re committed to ensuring an
inclusive learning environment and want to help them progress.

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Career Support
Your commitment to supporting students in HE shouldn’t end
there. You should also consider how you’ll prepare them for
life after university. Either create or make your existing career
services more robust and even more helpful with extra support
and resources. The key focus here is how universities like yours
embed career planning and support into course delivery.

Make the Student Experience

a Key Goal in Your Overall
Strategy
In your strategy, highlight that every student will have access
to the highest quality of learning. Emphasise that you also
have methods to ensure they’ll have equal opportunities to
succeed and graduate with a strong sense of ethical and social
responsibility.

Significantly expanding the opportunities available to students

is something Dr Jenny Marie, Principal Teaching Fellow and
Director of UCL ChangeMakers at University College London,
highlighted at the Effectively Enhancing Student Engagement
Across Higher Education forum.

Her presentation emphasised that UCL is determined to place

student feedback at the heart of decision-making while focusing
on promoting student partnerships on a departmental, faculty
and institutional level.

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Support Inclusivity,
Diversity and Equality
Although everyone has a right to go to university, it doesn’t
guarantee that minority students, disabled students, LGBTQ+
students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds always
see their HE journey through to the end. Your strategy also
needs to highlight how you have services and resources which
cater to their bespoke needs.

Although by no means exhaustive, here are some other things

your student experience strategy can include:

• Create dedicated offices to support multicultural

backgrounds and students of different backgrounds.

• Increase awareness of LGBTQ+ inclusivity in HE with

projects, focus on additive approaches by offering access
to mentors to LGBTQ+-identified students and focus on
the inclusion of topics, themes and readings about LGBTQ+
identities.

• Conduct frequent surveys to sense your institution’s sense

of belonging, wellbeing support and inclusivity to see where
you’re really at.

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• Assist disabled students by implementing technology. For
example, use a virtual learning environment as a repository of
reaching materials, use lecture capture technology and ensure
specialist software is available for disabled students to never
miss out on vital learnings.

• Promote correct pronoun-use in communications and allow

students to enter their own pronouns in data systems.

• Make enrolment and induction easier for disabled students and

those from a disadvantaged background to offer more one-
to-one opportunities. Also, design programmes with inclusivity
in mind. For example, create assignments with enough time
for students with disabilities and those from a disadvantaged
background to incorporate varying adjustments.

• Turn to workshops, events and webinars for university-wide

diversity training.

Shaping your student experience strategy around these will

make it more effective. It will help you create a fair, inclusive and
engaging strategy but it doesn’t mean you have to end there.
Once you’ve implemented these core aspects, there’s nothing
stopping your university from doing more and tweaking your
strategy to further support your students.

With a more effective strategy in place, you can break the student
experience down into smaller sections and focus on how to
enhance it even further.

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20 Tips to
Enhance Student
Experience

A well-rounded student experience revolves around many different

aspects, each of which require the same level of attention. Some
examples include wellbeing, participation and also areas such as
attainment and retention.

To create a sense of belonging within your HE institution, attract

students, retain them and keep them engaged, here are tips you
can utilise right away to enhance the student experience.

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5 Tips to Improve
Student Wellbeing

1. Revisit Your Student Wellbeing Policy

on a Frequent Basis
You have an obligation to ensure your students are safe, so
it stretches far beyond just the academic side. Students need
to know the support is there when they need it and that the
support you provide is actually effective. Revisit your existing
student wellbeing policy and make any necessary changes to
ensure it meets students’ needs.

This includes offering wellbeing training for staff, including

policies such as mental health advice, wellbeing advice,
disability services and more. With an effective policy, you can
put wellbeing at the core of the student experience.

2. Promote Services and Resources

Having services and resources embedded within your institution
is a good start. However, it doesn’t mean much if students
aren’t aware of them. Whether it’s through the prospectus,
student portal or through emails, make a conscious effort to
promote your services and resources.

To get you started on some valuable external student wellbeing

resources you should be using for yourself and to promote
to students, head over to this dedicated blog post. It features
information on organisations ranging from Student Minds and
Papyrus to The 1752 Group, SMaRteN and many more.

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3. Deliver Training Sessions
Teaching staff and tutors are on the front line, so they’re most
likely to be aware of wellbeing warning signs or concerns.
Another way to improve student wellbeing in HE and to
improve their chances of noticing any problems is by promoting
training to support faculty staff. Ensure they aren’t one-off
training sessions as regular, up-to-date information is vital.

4. Foster Partnerships
Although there’s a long way to go to provide the complete
student experience and cater to each need, we’re thankfully
in a position where there are many charities and organisations
dedicated to student wellbeing. To offer extra support, work
in conjunction with them and create partnerships to help
coordinate efforts and improve wellbeing services.

You’ll not only have your own services and resources, but also
the added benefit of having an on-campus organisation that
can help increase your efforts to provide a seamless student
experience.

5. Implement Creative Initiatives

Adopting a week-long awareness campaign every so often
might not be as effective as you’d hope. Although they can
work, creative wellbeing initiatives that engage students can be
the all-important difference compared to something they see all
the time. Consider ideas such as:

• Mentor programmes.

• Yoga classes.

• Walking groups.

• Coffee, cake and a chat.

• Confidence and communication workshops.

We’ve outlined even more creative initiatives you can

implement in this blog post.

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Tips to Improve Student
Engagement and
Participation

1. Implement Different Teaching

and Learning Environments
Not every student can learn in the same, traditional way.
To boost student participation, there should be a variety
of teaching environments to suit the different needs and
learning styles. In your role, you can highlight what can work,
such as rolling out more workshops, adding more open
discussions, focusing on more group-focused work rather
than individual and more.

If you can help the university cater to different learning

styles, it can result in more involvement from students in an
environment they’re most comfortable in.

2. Offer Various Methods

of Showcasing Knowledge
Giving the choice to students on how they can demonstrate
their knowledge can help their willingness to participate.
Whether it’s assignments or assessments, dictating the only
way they can present their findings from a range of topics
won’t always motivate them.

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3. Place the Emphasis on Students
Encourage users to not only share their ideas with everyone but
also promote a student-first approach where possible. Allowing
them to lead discussions themselves and bounce ideas off each
other can boost their confidence.

Giving them this responsibility from the beginning and setting

the standard early of high student involvement increases
participation and shows you’re helping them develop.

4. Embed Inclusivity
You should also put a focus on disadvantaged students and
showcase that you’re going the extra mile to support them.
Whether it’s in a seminar or a specific support service, they
need to be aware you’ve thought about their requirements.
With personalisation something students seek today, offering
that can see them feel far more involved than anything that
doesn’t apply or resonate with them.

They want to fit in and they want to belong. Helping them

understand they’re not alone can go a long way by creating
equal opportunities.

5. Make the Search for Social Engagement

Opportunities Easier
Arguably the best way to increase participation rates for
students of all faiths and backgrounds is to get involved in
societies, clubs, volunteering opportunities and other unique
forms of social engagement designed for all students. However,
it can often be a challenge to find the right one or even know if
the right fit exists, especially with all of the other obligations to
keep up with.

Instead, make the search easier by working with the students’

union, clubs and volunteer organisations. Rather than making
it a huge effort for students to take time to find an opportunity
for them, promote a range through various mediums so they
never miss the message. It ensures they won’t be alone and
they’ll be able to participate in activities with other people
during their time at your institution.

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5 Tips to Improve
Student Attainment

1. Share Attainment and Retention Data

Both attainment and retention data is essential to analyse and
make changes based on this information. It should be shared at
a department-level at the very least so the relevant people can
discuss and build awareness of the different achievements and
act as a stimulus for change.

When you know what does and doesn’t work, you can make the
necessary changes to continue improving attainment levels.

2. Review the Curriculum

Co-develop and work with students to review the curriculum.
This helps to ensure the modules, assessments and grading
criteria are integrated into the design of the curriculum to
minimise any potential attainment differentials.

Working with students can help you identify details which

can negatively impact attainment rates and work on them.

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3. Recognise Learning Styles
Students all learn in different ways and teaching in one way
might only benefit a select few. It’s vital to recognise the various
methods students prefer and respond to so tutors can adapt
their teaching styles to what has the most impact.

By teaching them in their preferences, it can help to boost

attainment.

4. Create Partnership Programmes

To raise the attainment of students, particularly from
disadvantaged backgrounds, it’s a good idea to consider
working in partnership with other institutions. Many universities
have already created programmes with schools and colleges to
ensure a seamless progression into HE in what wouldn’t have
been possible before.

It’s a chance to enhance their academic skills early on, ensuring

they’re prepared for what university life has to offer.

5. Promote Peer-Led Learning

You need to make it clear you have high expectations of all
students and how they’re also accountable for their development.
When they have high expectations of themselves, they’ll be more
motivated to succeed and it will enable attainment.

Combining it with the promotion of peer-led learning, it can

help build students’ expectations but most of all, it boosts
their confidence.

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5 Tips to Improve
Student Retention

1. Provide Support Systems

Students can drop out of their programme of study for several
reasons. Changes in their personal life, poor university preparation,
homesickness can all be major factors. To ensure students stay on
their courses, offer and promote support systems.

When it’s clear students with problems have a place to turn

to, it can help increase retention rates without citing a lack
of support.

2. Implement Mentoring Programmes

Giving students the option to work with an experienced
individual willing to share knowledge and build mutual trust
is a powerful tool. A mentorship programme can empower
students to plan their futures and take advantage of their
potential. Mentoring to boost retention rates is something
Victoria Carroll, Peer Mentoring Officer at Aston University,
discussed at the Increasing Student Retention Across Higher
Education Forum.

She highlighted how mentees benefit from a sense of

belonging while it also increases their confidence, motivation
and they lose the desire to drop out of their course. What
helps is these programmes aren’t forced, but voluntary and
flexible where they pick up a great deal of knowledge.

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3. Collect Data and Put It to Good Use
To increase retention rates, first address the problem of low
student retention rates. Gather data on how effective the
courses are, focus on student achievement and the number
of resources allocated.

With this data, you can enhance your retention efforts every
year. It can tell you what is working yet also highlight areas
of downfall which help students’ decision in leaving their
chosen course.

4. Ensure Equal Opportunity and Access

Although the UK can be considered a leader in terms of the
number of students that start and finish a university degree,
students from low-income backgrounds are still more likely to
drop out. You need to look at how you can support them by
offering flexibility and accessibility in their programmes. This
can lead to different types of teaching, offering extra support
and more.

With options and flexibility, it helps students feel less isolated.

5. Communicate More With Students

Although it seems simple on paper, having more opportunities to
talk to at-risk students can have a massive impact on retention
rates. With specialist advisors and trustworthy faculty students
can turn to, these conversations can go a long way to easing any
concerns and offering specialist support.

At the Increasing Student Retention Across Higher Education

Forum, Dr Debra Cureton, Senior Research Fellow at the University
of Wolverhampton, touched on the importance of communication
and the role it plays in student retention.

Her presentation highlighted meaningful conversations resulted

in enhanced confidence, meaningful discussions, greater
engagement and also cleared up any areas of misunderstanding.
Regular communication can not only help you identify students at
risk of dropping out but also ease their concerns.

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Your Next Steps

Although UK universities are doing a lot to aid the student

experience, by now it should be clear just how much more can be
done - and the vital role you play in helping achieve that. For it to
truly improve, the student experience needs to be a university-
wide priority.

Moving forward, it’s important to look at what your university

is currently offering and what more you can do. Whether it’s
creating new programmes and initiatives or promoting the
excellent services you already have - looking for ways to improve
what you have in place is a good start.

Along with revisiting your existing student experience strategy

and making it more effective in necessary areas, utilise the tips in
your own institution so the student experience is more complete
and you don’t fall short in any areas.

As you can imagine, the student experience continues to evolve.

There can always be a new breakthrough which means you’ll
need to change your strategy further to cater to students’ needs.
Although this guide is a helpful resource for you to keep on-hand
right now while you work on improving the student experience in
your HE institution, we also regularly host events to provide you
with the most up-to-date information.

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View Our Events
on Student
Experience
At IG Higher Education, we strive to provide
attendees with the unique opportunity to examine
the latest strategic developments in student
experience through case studies, interactive
presentations and more. You’ll gain key updates,
learn from the best, examine future challenges
and network with like-minded HE professionals so
you can do your part to fix the student experience
problem in the UK.

To find out more about the events we currently

have planned, visit our events page and sign up to
confirm your registration.

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