The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 was, in modern times, unprecedented. And it required an unprecedented response from education institutions around the world.

Now, over six months on from the emergence of the global pandemic and with many institutions preparing for the start of a new and potentially uncertain academic year, it is useful to gauge how students feel about their institution’s response to COVID-19 to date. How have institutions performed on communicating key information to their students throughout the event? How successful was the – in most cases, very rapid – transition to online learning? What should institutions be aware of in terms of student experience as they navigate through the COVID-19 era?

The events of 2020 have rapidly shaped the way the world lives, works, and learns and getting staff and students back on campus safely is the goal for universities everywhere. Never before have any of us faced such a challenge - knowing what to do if there is a positive case and dealing with it promptly and professionally. 

The Coronavirus is having a huge impact on higher and further education, as well as economies and lives across the globe. The education landscape changed, virtually overnight, when on 23^rd March 2020, the UK followed many other countries into ‘lockdown’ in an attempt to slow the rate of infection of Covid-19.

The downturn in demographics and numbers of people going to university and college, competition from international markets, and high dropout rates means that UK institutions need smart ways to demonstrate and deliver the Student Experience they have on offer if they intend to meet increasingly ambitious recruitment and retention targets.

On 14th July, due to the current pandemic, Tribal hosted the first ever Empower Online Conference. The event offered customers from the higher education sector all around the world an opportunity to gain insights into the world of education from 6 live sessions with live Q&A and opportunity for discussion, and 20 on-demand sessions, recorded in advance by Tribal employees.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, large-scale events as we once knew them are a thing of the past. We recognise this will have a major impact on university freshers week 2020, with the typical fun-loving, drink-fuelled week now overpowered by institutions striving to follow the guidelines when it comes to meeting government social distancing restrictions.

Did I hear you say Taxi?

Yes, TCSI (pronounced “taxi”), you heard that right! It stands for Transforming the Collection of Student Information (TCSI). It’s a joint project between the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) and Services Australia to transform how student information is collected to build a better solution that benefits both Australian education providers and students. The project name TCSI has also been retained as the name of the new portal in which institutions report to, however the acronym now stands for Tertiary Collection of Student Information.

COVID-19 Response Barometer

The COVID-19 Response Barometer has been borne out of necessity – the necessity for Higher Education Institutions to hear and understand the student voice during the pandemic, and the necessity to understand that student voice in the context of a global comparison. Here we look at how the survey has been received and the aspirations of those institutions that are sharing the survey with their student population.

You are a long-standing Tribal customer and thinking about booking tickets for the Tribal Empower Online Conference. But, you are busy, budgets are especially tight, and your manager wants return on investment. Time away from the day job can be difficult to muster but there has never been a better time to invest in becoming an expert in your field and join the conversation online.

For anyone returning to university, the apprehension and unknows that Covid-19 presents will likely be playing on student minds. Indeed, Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity and Headspace in Australia, have been providing unprecedented levels of dedicated support to both students and staff to help them through this period, and publishing up to date  guidance and resources on a regular basis.