Communicating compassionately with our students
In times of difficulty for individual students, whether our communications are personal, supportive and clear – or not – can make the difference between engaging with support or disconnecting from their studies.
Linda Sherwin (Student Experience Programme Manager) tells us how positive student experience and wellbeing are at the heart of the Compassionate Communication change programme, and explains the resources and benefits for departments.
What are we doing, and what are we aiming to achieve?
We want to make a difference to how students experience formal communications, when the news may be difficult to receive. For example, letters responding to requests for mitigating circumstances, or to inform a student about a visa status concern.
We’re completing a whole-institution overhaul of the standard formal letters or emails we send to individual students when the news isn’t great - making sure they’re clear, respectful, and written with the student in mind.
It’s about creating a culture where communication reflects consideration, clarity, and compassion - helping students navigate challenges with confidence and dignity. We hope this work will also help to guide how we communicate more broadly across the University, now and into the future.
Why is this so important – and what are students telling you about the impact for them?
Students have told us that the way we communicate - especially during challenging times - can make a big difference to their wellbeing and ability to keep focusing on their studies and university life.
Research also highlights that when messages are written with care and compassion, students express a reduction in negative feelings, are more likely to reach out for help and are more likely to experience higher rates of student satisfaction.
Our students have already told us that the changes to some of the key letters and emails we have tackled so far have meant they are easier to understand, offer more reassurance and their next steps are much clearer.
How is this already helping departments and teams?
The project offers real benefits to staff as well as students, including reducing follow-up questions and achieving clarity in student responses. Other institutions have noticed tangible impacts on student retention rates.
We’re building on what’s already in place, and we’re not aiming for rigid consistency across departments. Instead, we want to create a more coherent and compassionate student experience across the board.
Ultimately, it’s about strengthening relationships, boosting student satisfaction, and supporting retention - making it easier for departments and administrative teams, academic or central, to engage with students in a way that feels thoughtful and effective.
What support are you providing to departments?
We’ve developed clear guidance to help teams review and improve their formal communications through a compassionate lens.
We are currently building a network of Changemakers - colleagues across the University who are completing this work locally and sharing best practice. We’re offering training sessions to Changemakers to build confidence in using this guidance effectively.
Please support your changemaker to make meaningful changes to your department’s communications.
How can colleagues find out who their local changemaker is, or whether their department has one yet?
The full list of Changemakers is available to view on the Compassionate Communication change programme webpage – please do take a look and contact the project team if you’d like to get involved.
Penny Cowie, Practice Development Lead (Safeguarding Lead), Wellbeing and Student Support, added:
“We’re working closely with Student Experience on this project, and it’s great to see departments supporting something which will strengthen the connection between students and the University, reduce unnecessary stress, and support students to stay engaged and confident. This project is a part of Wellbeing and Student Support's proactive approach to support student wellbeing at every stage of their journey.”
Find out more
- Learn more about the Compassionate Communications change programme at Warwick.
- Want to become a Compassionate Communications Changemaker? Sign up to an upcoming training session, either in-person or online.
- This work is part of a sector wide project to provide more compassionate communications in Higher Education, originally developed by the Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce (HEMHIT).