"AdvanceHE

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HigherEducationpolicyInstitulte

StudentAcademicExperienceSurvey2025

JonathanNeves,AdvanceHEJoshFreeman,HEPI

RoseStephenson,HEPI

DrAnneRowan,AdvanceHE

StudentAcademicExperienceSurvey2025

JonathanNeves,JoshFreeman,RoseStephenson,DrAnneRowan

2

Contents

Foreword5

1Executivesummary6

2Methodology7

2.1Approach7

2.2Samplesize7

2.3Weighting8

2.4Basesizes8

2.5Datatables8

2.6Qualifications8

2.7Internationalstudents8

2.8Ethnicity9

2.9Sexualorientation9

3Sampleprofile10

4Valueformoney11

4.1Trendsovertime11

4.2Valuebyhomeregion12

4.3Factorsinfluencingperceptionsofpoorvalue13

5Meetingexpectations15

5.1Experienceversusexpectations15

5.2Whyexpectationsarenotmet16

5.3Whyexpectationsareexceeded17

6Thechoicetogotouniversity19

6.1Thebenefitofhindsight19

6.2Whetherconsideredleaving21

7Improvementstothestudentacademicexperience23

7.1Enhancedindividualisedsupportandengagement23

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7.2Enhancingcommunicationchannels24

7.3Qualityoffeedback24

7.4Curriculumimprovements26

7.5Increasedemotionalandmentalsupport27

7.6Increasedfinancialsupport28

7.7Supportforinternationalstudents28

7.8Teachingquality29

7.9Summary30

8Paidemployment31

9Belongingandon-campusrelations35

9.1Belonging35

9.2Howwelldoacademicsknowtheirstudents?36

9.3Freedomofspeechoncampus37

10Spotlightoninternationalstudents40

10.1Thequalityoftheexperience40

10.2Internationalstudentsandpaidwork43

11Spotlightonpre-entryqualifications46

12Teachingintensity49

12.1Workloadtrends49

12.2Satisfactionwithscheduledcontacthours50

12.3Workloadbysubject52

12.4Numberofhoursinstudyandemployment53

13Qualityofteachingandassessment55

13.1Perceptionsofthequalityofteachingstaff55

13.2Ratingofassessment56

13.3Volumeofassignments57

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13.4Timelinessoffeedback58

14Wellbeing60

14.1Keywellbeingmeasures60

14.2Mentalhealthsupport61

15Tuitionfees64

16Financesandthefuture67

16.1Theimpactofthecost-of-livingcrisis67

17Conclusionsandpolicyrecommendations70

17.1Trendsovertime70

17.2Areasofconcern71

17.3Recommendations71

StudentAcademicExperienceSurvey2025

JonathanNeves,JoshFreeman,RoseStephenson,DrAnneRowan

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Foreword

Aswereflectonthisyear'sStudentAcademicExperienceSurvey(SAES),wearestruckbytheevolvingnatureofhighereducationintheUK.ThisannualcollaborationbetweenAdvanceHEandHEPIcontinuestooffervaluableinsightsintostudents'lived

experiences,revealingbothchallengesandopportunitieswithinoursector.

Thefindingsthisyearpaintapictureofafundamentalshiftinhowstudentsnavigatetheiruniversityjourney.Term-timeemploymenthasbecomethenormratherthantheexceptionforfull-timeundergraduates,representingasignificanttransformationfromjustafew

yearsago.Thischangereflectsthebroadereconomicpressuresfacingstudentsandthedifficultchoicestheymustmake.

Inthischanginglandscape,weseeevidenceofnecessarytrade-offs.Asmoretimeis

devotedtopaidwork,somethinginevitablygivesway–inthiscase,thehoursdedicatedtoindependentstudyhavenotablydeclined.Studentsaremakingpragmaticdecisionsastheybalancefinancialnecessitieswithacademiccommitments.

Despitethesechallenges,thereareencouragingsignsofresiliencethroughoutthesector.Thequalityandtimelinessofassessmentfeedbackhaveimprovedmarkedly,anda

growingproportionofstudentsreportthattheiruniversityexperiencehasexceededtheirexpectations.Thisspeakstothededicationofstaffacrossinstitutionswhocontinuetoprioritiseeducationalexcellenceevenindifficultcircumstances.

However,wemustacknowledgeconcerningtrends.Morestudentsarequestioning

whetherhighereducationwastherightchoiceforthem,withagrowingproportion

indicatingtheywouldhavetakenadifferentpathgiventhebenefitofhindsight.These

findingspromptimportantquestionsforoursectoraswellaspolicymakers.Howcan

highereducationinstitutionsandthosethatrelyonthem,includingGovernmentand

employers,incentivisethepracticesthatbestservestudentsandsociety?Howmightwebuildupontheareaswhereexpectationsarebeingexceededwhileaddressingthe

challengesthatremain?Theseconsiderationsmustshapeourcollectiveworkinthecomingyears.

TheSAEScontinuestoprovidevitalevidenceforpolicymakers,institutionalleadersandeveryonecommittedtoimprovinghighereducation.Thesectorisdisplayingremarkableresilienceinchallengingtimes,butrequiressustainablesolutionsthataddressboththefinancialpressuresoninstitutionsandthechangingneedsoftoday'sstudents.

OursincerethanksgotoallthestudentswhoparticipatedinthissurveyandtocolleaguesatAdvanceHE,HEPIandSavantafortheirworkinbringingthesevaluableinsightsto

light.

AlisonJohnsNickHillman

ChiefExecutiveofAdvanceHEDirectoroftheHigherEducationPolicyInstitute(HEPI)

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1Executivesummary

Thisyear’sresultsindicatethat,aswehadbeguntoobserve,thestudentexperiencehasevolvedawayfromthe‘traditional’modelofmanystudentslivingclosetocampus,spendingalotoftimeoncampusandonlyundertakingpaidemploymentduringtheholidays.

Cost-of-livingchallengespermeatethecurrentexperience.Accordingly,paidworkisnow

oftenexpectedandmustbefittedaroundstudents’otherresponsibilities.Timespentinpaidwork,orsimplythedistancestudentslivefromcampus,hasalimitinginfluenceonthetimeavailabletospendoncampus.Alongsidethis,highereducationprovidersacrosstheUKarefacingsomeofthemostsignificantfinancialheadwindsinrecenttimes.

Againstthisbackdrop,wemightexpectittobedifficultforinstitutionstomaintainthequalityofthestudentexperiencetheyhaveprovidedinrecentyears.Indeed,thisyear’sfindingspointustowherethequalityoftheexperienceisunderpressure.However,therearealsoseveraltouchpointsprovidingrealevidenceofresilienceamongstudentsandthewider

sector.

Perceptionsofvalueformoneyhavedeclinedcomparedto2024,butincontext,arestillrelativelyhighhistorically.Whilethereisclearscopeforimprovement,itremainsthecasethatmarkedlymorestudentsbelievetheyreceivegoodvalue(37%)thanfeeltheyreceivepoorvalue(29%).Thereisadditionalevidencethatthequalityandspeedofreturning

assessmentsaregenerallyveryhighwhilesometeachingmetricshavehelduprelativelywell.Thisyear’sreportalsoprovidesevidenceofthegenerallypositiveexperienceof

internationalstudents,andabetterunderstandingofsomeofthekeydriversoftheirchoices.

Settingandmeetingtheexpectationsofstudentsbeginninguniversityisprovingaschallengingasever,butahealthynumberofrespondentshavehadtheirexperiencesexceeded,whichisanendorsementofthequalityoffacilitiesandsupportprovided.

Centraltothoseexpectationsisevidencethatstudentsoftenexpecttoworkforpaywhilestudying,andoneofthemostnoteworthyresultsthisyearisthattherearenowmorethanoneinthreewhodoso(68%),aremarkablestatisticwhenweconsiderthanthisfigurewasbelow50%justthreeyearsago.Whilestudentsareoftenpreparedforworkingtobeakeypartoftheirlifeatuniversity,thereisevidencethishasbeenattheexpenseoftimespentinindependentstudy.Timeallocatedtothishasseenastrongdeclinewhileemployment

hourshaveincreased,althoughthetotalnumberofhoursworkedorstudiedisnowslightlyloweronaverage,whichmaybemoremanageable.

Thereisstrikingevidencethisyearthathighereducationmaynotbethebestoptionforallwhoselectit.Althoughthemajoritywouldmakethesamechoiceofcourseorinstitution

againwiththebenefitofhindsight,therehasbeenamarkedincreaseinthosewhowouldhavemadeadifferentchoiceeitherwithinoroutsidehighereducation,from6%lastyearto11%thisyear.Thisimpliesthatwhilethestudentexperienceisevolving,theneedsof

studentsandwhattheywantfromitmaybechangingtoo.

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2Methodology

2.1Approach

TheSurveyquestionsweredesignedanddevelopedinpartnershipbetweenAdvanceHEandHEPI,withonlinefieldworkinterviewsindependentlyledbySavanta.

Savanta’sstudentpanelincludesmorethan48,000undergraduatestudentsintheUK.

ThesestudentsareprimarilyrecruitedthroughapartnershipwiththeUniversitiesandCollegesAdmissionsService(UCAS),whichinvitesalargenumberofnewfirst-yearstudentstojointhepaneleachyear.

Between6January2025and18March2025,membersofSavanta’sstudentpanel,aswellasrespondentsfromotherinternalSavantapanels,includingCint,andexternalpanel

providerTorfac,wereinvitedtocompletetheSurvey.Intotal,10,232responseswere

receivedandanalysed,with8,721responsessourcedfromtheSavantapanelsand1,511intotalsourcedfromTorfac.Themediancompletiontimewas9minutesand52seconds.

Inordertoensureabalancebetweencomparabilityandtopicality,the2025questionnairecontainedanumberofcorequestions,whilealsointroducingsomenewareasofcoverage,includingaquestiononhowmanymembersofstaffknowstudents’names,perceptionsofhowinstitutionsshouldprovidementalhealthandwellbeingservicesandhowuniversitiesshouldbefinancedandthesizeoftuitionfeeswithinthis.

2.2Samplesize

Our2025Surveycapturedtheviewsof10,232full-timeundergraduatestudentsstudyingintheUK.Unlessstatedotherwise,allfiguresandtablesrelatetoweighteddatafromthe2025Survey.

Thetotalsamplesizeof10,232,basedonaUKfull-timeundergraduatepopulationof

1,759,245(2023-24data)providesamarginoferrorof+/-1%.

1

Thisiscalculatedatthe95%confidencelevelandbasedonaresultof50%,wherethemarginoferrorisatits

maximum.Thismeansthat,foraresultof50%,wecanbeconfidentthatthetrueresultisbetween49%and51%in95outof100cases.

Wehavehighlightedstatisticallysignificantdifferencesbetween2024and2025(orinsomecases,betweensamplegroupsfrom2025)inboldtextoneachchartortablewheresuchdifferencesapply.Thesedifferencesarecalculatedatthe95%level,whichindicatesa95%chancethatadifferencebetweentwofiguresisatruedifferenceandnotattributedto

chance.

1HESA(2025)‘Who,sstudyinginHE?’Cheltenham:HESA.Availableat:

www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-

analysis/students/whos-in-he

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2.3Weighting

Datawereweighted,inpartnershipwithSavanta,basedonastrategytomaximise

representationwhilemaintainingtherobustnessoftheoriginaldata.Anumberoffactors

weretakenintoaccount,usingdataprincipallydrawnfromtheHigherEducationStatisticsAgency(HESA).Thekeyweightingcriteriawerebasedonethnicity,domicile,typeofschoolattendedanddiscipline.

2.4Basesizes

Toreducetheamountoftext,wehavenotgenerallyincludedbasesizedescriptionsundereachchart.Unlessspecifiedotherwise,chartsarebasedon2025datacomprisingthetotalweightedpopulationof10,232.Mostoftheotherchartsarebasedeitherontime-seriesdataorononeofthespecificsub-samplesidentifiedinthesampleprofilebelow.

2.5Datatables

ThefullweightedExceldatatables,showingthepercentageanswerstoeveryquestion,attotallevelandacrossarangeofsamplegroups,arefreelyaccessiblefromtheAdvanceHEandHEPIwebsites.

Weencouragereadersofthisreporttoaccessandusethedatatablesfortheirownresearchpurposes,astheyfacilitatetheinvestigationofwideraspectsofthestudentexperiencebeyondthosediscussedinthisreport.

2.6Qualifications

StudentsrespondingtotheSurveyareallfull-timeundergraduates,studyingacrossarangeofqualificationsincludingbachelor’sdegrees,foundationdegreesanddegree

apprenticeships.Thisisconsistentwithpreviousyears,butthereportanddatatablesnowcontainsomefurtherinformationonthespecificqualificationsbeingstudiedforaswellasthepre-qualificationstakenbeforeattendinghighereducation.

2.7Internationalstudents

Toprovidegreaterclarityonthedefinitionofinternationalstudents,weintroducedanew,

directquestion,askingatthebeginningofthesurvey‘areyouaninternationalstudent(yes/no/don’tknow)’.

Wethenusedthisquestionasafilterforthesectionsondomicileasoutlinedbelow.

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Howanswered-

Q.Internationalstudent

Howanswered-Q.Domicile

Howclassified

No

England/NorthernIreland/Scotland/Wales

Home/UKstudent

(England/NorthernIreland/Scotland/Wales–as

specified)

EuropeanUnionorRestofWorld

Home/UKstudent(exactdomicileunknown)

Yes

England/NorthernIreland/Scotland/Wales

Internationalstudent(exactdomicileunknown)

EuropeanUnionorRestofWorld

Internationalstudent

(EuropeanUnionorRestofWorldasspecified)

Thisanalysisindicatedthatinpreviousyears,someinternationalstudentswereclassifyingthemselvesincorrectlyasbeing‘domiciled’inEngland,NorthernIreland,ScotlandorWales.Accordingly,thesestudentshavenowbeenclassifiedinamoreaccurateway.

2

WesubsequentlyusedthenewclassificationofUK-domiciledstudents,whethertheexactdomicilewasknownornot,asafilterforanalysisonethnicity,typeofschoolattended,

POLARanalysis,socialgrade,distancetravelledtocampusandcommutingcategory.

2.8Ethnicity

Forethnicityanalysis,thesampleprofileandmaindatainthisreportareonceagainbasedonUK-domiciledstudents.

3

Thisisastandardapproachandhasbeendonetoremovetheimpactofinternationalstudentsonethnicgroups.

2.9Sexualorientation

Someanalysishasbeenconducted,usingthetermLGB+,basedonstudentswhoidentifyaslesbian,gay,bisexual,asexualorwhouseadifferentterm,suchaspansexualorqueer,todescribetheirsexualorientation.Thisdataarefullyavailableinthedatatables.AdvanceHEandHEPIrecognisethelimitsofthisclassification.

2Duetotheintroductionofthisfilter,analysisofrespondents‘domiciled’inEngland,NI,ScotlandandWalesisnotdirectlycomparabletopreviousyearsandshouldbeusedasaguideonly–butthishasbeendoneto

improveaccuracy.

3Forsomeanalyses,groupshavebeenfurtheraggregatedintoasingleBlack,AsianandMinorityEthnicgroup.Thisdefinitioniswidelyrecognisedandusedtoidentifypatternsofmarginalisationandsegregationcausedbyattitudestowardsanindividual’sethnicity.AdvanceHEandHEPIrecognisethelimitationsofthisdefinition,particularlythefalseassumptionthatminorityethnicstudentsareahomogenousgroup.

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3Sampleprofile

OursamplehasbeenweightedtoreflecttheUKfull-timeundergraduatepopulationandprovideconsistencywithpreviouswaves.Thereportreferstoweighteddatathroughout.

Weighteddata

Categories

2023

(10,163)

2024

(10,319)

2025

(10,232)

2025

Weighted

basesize

University

region

England

83%

85%

83%

8,459

NorthernIreland

2%

3%

4%

378

Scotland

10%

8%

7%

665

Wales

4%

4%

6%

598

Domicile

UKstudent

N/A–duetochangeinclassificationquestion

78%

7,977

International

student

21%

2,148

Institution

type

RussellGroup

28%

28%

28%

2,847

Pre-92(excl.RussellGroup)

20%

19%

18%

1,802

Post-92

43%

42%

43%

4,438

Specialist

4%

5%

6%

599

Other

6%

7%

5%

546

Ethnicity

(%among

UK

domiciled

students

providing

ananswer)

Asian(excluding

Chinese)

16%

14%

12%

930

Chinese

1%

1%

1%

69

Black

5%

6%

9%

732

Mixed

5%

6%

5%

411

Other

1%

1%

1%

84

White

72%

72%

72%

5,725

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4Valueformoney

4.1Trendsovertime

TheperceivedvalueformoneyofhighereducationhasestablisheditselfasoneofthemainbarometersoftheoverallstudentexperienceasmeasuredbythisSurvey.Afewyearsago,thismeasureperhapsunderstandablysufferedastheundergraduateexperiencefaceda

rangeofrestrictionsduringtheCovid-19pandemic,butwewereencouragedtoseeanupliftintheyearsthatfollowed.Sincethen,however,studentshavefacedsomeparticularand

ongoingchallengesaroundthecostoflivingandneedingtoworkforpaywhileatuniversity,whichhasinturnputgreaterpressureonhowtheoverallexperiencehasbeenperceivedintermsofvalue.

Valueformoneyofyourpresentcourse

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

26%26%

44%

41%39%

37%35%

37%37%

40%

44%

38%

39%

35%

29%

32%34%32%29%

32%

31%27%

29%

31%

201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025

Good/VeryGoodPoor/VeryPoor

Notethatstudentscouldalsochooseanoption‘neithergoodnorpoor,(chosenby34%ofstudentsin2025),hencethetwolinesonthischartdonotaddupto100%.

Our2025datashowthattherehasbeenareversalofthemostrecentgainsinthismeasure,with37%ofstudentsfeelingtheyreceivedgoodorverygoodvalueastatistically

significantdecreasecomparedwith39%in2024.Matchingthis,therehasalsobeena

statisticallysignificantriseintheproportionfeelingtheyreceivedpoororverypoorvalue,althoughduetoarelativelylargenumberselectingtheneutraloptiononthefive-point

scale,thereisstillaneightpointgapbetweenthegreenandredlinesonourgraph,which2024apartisoneofthelargergapswehaveseeninrecenttimes.

Whilethesenumbersreflectthechallengesbeingfacedbythesector,theyarealso

reflectiveofalevelofresilienceamonghighereducationprovidersinthat,onbalance,valueismostlikelytobeseenasgoodratherthanpoor.

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4.2Valuebyhomeregion

ThereisarangeoffeesandfundingpoliciesinplaceindifferentpartsoftheUK.Whereastudentisfromandwheretheythenchoosetostudy,aswellasthediversityofthe

universityexperienceitself,tendstohavealargeinfluenceonhowvalueisperceived.

Valueformoneyofcourse-byhomeregion

60%

50%

40%

46%

39%

36%

34%

33%28%

33%

35%

32%

30%

20%

20%

10%

0%

Scotland

England

Wales

NorthernIreland

Internationalstudents

GoodvaluePoorvalue

Astheabovechartshows,valueisperceivedatitshighestamongUKstudentswhose

‘homeregion’isScotland(Scottish-domiciledstudentsdonotpayfeesiftheystudyin

Scotland).Notably,thoseclassifiedasbeinginternationalstudents,eventhoughthey

generallypaythehighestfees,perceiverelativelyhighvalue,at39%,aheadofstudents

whosehomeregionisEngland,NorthernIrelandorWales.Aswewillgoontoseeinalaterchapter,manyinternationalstudentshaveapositiveexperienceacrossmultiplekey

touchpoints,whichisencouragingtosee.

StudentsfromNorthernIrelandandWalesperceivethelowestvalue,withthedata

highlightingmorestudentswhoperceivepoorvaluethangoodvalue,whichisapotentialcauseforconcern.

Asreferredtoearlier,wehavemadeachangetohowhomeregionisdefinedthisyearin

ordertomaximiseaccuracy,andhencewehavenotproducedatime-seriescomparison

chart.However,previousdatahavetendedtopointtowardsEnglishstudentsperceivingthelowestvalue,ratherthanthosefromNorthernIrelandandWales,sothelowscoresthisyearforthosepartsoftheUKrepresentapotentialareaforfurtherinvestigation.

StudentAcademicExperienceSurvey2025

JonathanNeves