Our Results

Results

Below you can see the results from the questionnaires. We have written reports from the in-person workshops, and we have shared the outcomes of those with relevant teams to help support continued improvement in other areas. There is a short summary below of the general outcomes. If you would like access to the unfiltered qualitative data please sent an email to .

Questionnaire findings

How to use this page:

Due to the high ratio of comments there is a lot of filtering that you are able to do.

Grey buttons along the top: shows you to group the results into this category (e.g. level of study is split by UG and PG)
Top bar:shows the total respondents for your selected filter, and the breakdown of your selected grey button (grouping)
Filters along the side: allows you to filter all questions based on your choices- see example below
Filters along the top: allows you to choose which group of questions (topic) or which specific question (there were over 100) to see answers from:
- Topic is split by Academic, Academic SUpport, Administration, Assessment, Campus Facilities, Living arrangements, Preparation for the future, Social adjustments, support from the university (central), Transport arrangements, Understanding and preparing for change, Understanding change, Miscellaneous, Additional questions
- Questions from the questionnaire can be seen here

Example

Hover over image to enlarge!

The following shows the average score, for question 6: How did you find the difficulty of assignments (question box just under the respondents), grouped by the Level of study Category (grey box at the top) and showing only the answers for Faculty of Arts, Female students (filters down the side).

Screenshot of PowerBi dashboard selecting results to be grouped by level of study, and filtering to show only female responses

Workshop & proposal findings

These findings have been summarised, if you would like the more detailed report summarising students qualitative experience please reach out to , include in your email which area you are looking for more detail.

Accommodation

Most students spoken to as part of the project had chosen to live off-campus in their second year and felt they had a lack of knowledge of how to achieve this. Including: 

Knowing where to live 
Understanding rent contracts and utilities 
How to secure off-campus housing 
How to choose safe, suitable local areas
How to remain safe - especially at night, including:
- Understanding what safety support exists locally
- Guidance on local norms, laws and everyday safety
- Awareness of informal and community-based support
- Clarity on report and support routes off-campus
Where to find suitable flatmates

Eating Well

Students often feel very reliant on the food options available to them on campus. This was exacerbated by:  

Lack of spaces on campus to prepare and keep food 
Lack of space they could inhabit without having to spend money
- As well as one clear place for food support, deals and free food schemes
Difficulties with scheduling e.g. timings of lectures or seminars clashing with peak opening hours of outlets 
Awareness of local outlets they could use, especially culturally linked outlets or grocery stores 
- Including connecting students that are making 'home style dishes', as well as 'Tastes from the local area' food markets
More affordable food options on campus
Simple budgeting, food shopping and cooking guidance (e.g. food-based video tutorials)

Travel & Commuting

This issue particularly impacted those students living off-campus. Students voiced concerns with: 

The unreliability and overcrowding of buses, particularly in the mornings - creating unavoidable ‘lateness’ or missing lectures 
Affordability of bus passes and lack of alternative options 
Wellbeing - tiredness and burnout associated with complications and length of travel when travelling to-and-from campus.  
Travel information linked to housing/local area choices
Understanding night travel & personal safety

Social Study and study spaces

When living off-campus access to these spaces was reduced due to needing to travel to campus to access it and a lack of local options. There was also a feeling of lack of connection to alternative ways/groups of study.  Students shared general thoughts around:

Clearer signposting to study spaces and booking systems
More variety in suitable study spaces
Better guidance on how to study effectively in different formats
More support for studying at home or while commuting
Help to connect students to study together (virtually or potentially in local areas)

University support

Students stated that they would seek information and answers to any queries surrounding the issues from the central university webpages. However, they felt the information available was limited and often difficult to find.

Clearer “who do I contact?” guidance, across all topics (academic, student support and administration, general queries, part-time work support, utilities & bills etc)
More visibility of existing services and support routes
More practical support for independent living and transition points, especially for key demographics who may struggle more within these

Academic & Administrative

The academic and administrative concerns uncovered focused on: 

General academic systems support- such as around:
- Assignment and assessments
- Module selection
- Exam and workload
- Timetabling etc
- Especially around joint-honours students
Support received from department, especially around preparing appropriately for the next academic year:
- Struggling with lecturers’ expectations of prerequisite knowledge when entering second year
- Where to get information 
- Clearer expectations for second year and module choices- including one process for how to choose modules
- Better clarity on assessments, marking and feedback
- More consistent communication, deadlines and timetable information
- Simpler processes for changes, mitigations and raising concerns

Budgeting & Finance

General student awareness of concerns around budgeting were high, but students shared that they would appreciate additional support such as:

Increased awareness of funding support available
- With mention around a cost timeline/cost calendar
Utilities support- such as a place to pull together all the options available to students specific to the local area, or reminders around key utilities dates/information
Signposting to food-related initiatives around the university (linked to the Eating Well suggestions) with an emphasis here on the budgetary constraints students face
Support around budgeting, that could be interactive and personalisable
One place to see work and other income opportunities available

Careers & Student Opportunity

The transitions work surfaced a few areas relating to general careers and employability, whilst this is not specific to the first to second year transition we have included a summary below of what students shared:

Need for improved visibility & timing of career information
Available departmental support
Joining together existing support available including leveraging newsletters and other communication routes