Two weeks ago we looked at data on overall happiness and satisfaction from the live data from this year’s Student Barometer. This week I want to focus on aspects of the learning and living experience as students have now had a few weeks back on campus and we can review their reflections from data from 18th November which has data from over 10,000 students from institutions across over 10 countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Australia, China and Singapore). The survey is live from September to mid-December each year and we expect more than 50,000 students to have responded by the close.

Over the last few months, we’ve been filled with hope as institutions have begun to open their doors to students from around the world. Inevitably, countries have taken differing approaches with some more cautious than others, but what remains clear is a desire at all levels to get back to some form of normalcy and with a return to our campuses we can begin to re-create those vibrant communities of learning.

If you want to know how students are really feeling we, at Tribal i-graduate, are uniquely positioned to give insights in real time on the global views of international students. Our bi-annual student barometer process is now live (since early October) and we already have responses from over 7,000 students. Each participating institution gets a ‘live’ dashboard of their own key results and we can aggregate the data to give everyone a global view. The data we have highlighted here is from 8th November 2021, so as up to date as you could possibly wish!

How can universities keep up with student expectations for support services? - Panel discussion at the Higher Education Conference 2021

The past year has proved the importance of university mental health services in uncertain times. A recent report from the digital charity Mental Health Innovations revealed that the university experience had been far from rosy for many students, who have had to navigate the usual stressors and anxieties now compounded in the landscape of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tribal is proud to work with the vast proportion of the 41 universities that have recently joined Student Minds University Mental Health Charter. The first 32 universities were announced in July, with a further 9 institutions signing up in September. The team at tribal are delighted that so many of their customers are demonstrating a commitment to improving support for staff and student mental health in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.  

When coronavirus first began to spread in the UK back in March 2020, Student Minds made the decision to pause and listen. We wanted to truly understand what students were experiencing, how the pandemic was affecting them and what we could do to help. We gathered insights from thousands of sources and conducted our own primary research to build as accurate a picture as possible. Almost 18 months later, following continued listening, the launch of Student Space and a shift to online delivery of our peer support and training, in August 2021, we collated and published our findings, reflections and recommendations in ‘University Mental Health: Life in a Pandemic’. The report explores the wide-reaching impacts of Covid-19 on higher education communities, focusing on four themes from Student Minds’ University Mental Health Charter: Live, Learn, Work and Support. By exploring the disruption to each of these themes and taking a holistic approach to student mental health, we were able to develop policy recommendations for universities, students’ unions, and the Government, which we believe will support students as we move beyond the initial impacts of the pandemic. 

This year’s annual National Student Survey, run by the OfS, found only 42% of students felt enough was done to help them. OfS head, Nichola Dandridge, said more must be done to look after students.  

As institutions globally rethink how they deliver education and the wider student experience, they continue to listen to the student voice. As such, i-graduate’s latest global surveys, the Covid-19 Response Barometer and the International Student Barometer (ISB) have been able to deliver valuable insight to the sector. Here we share just some of the findings. (The full global report, including regional focus reports, can be accessed here.)

Higher education, online learning and remote student services have become synonymous since the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020. Whilst the initial move to digital was orchestrated as a stop-gap measure to deliver learning and provide support, there is now an acknowledgment across the sector that online learning and remote student services will continue to have a place in higher education. Given recent announcements that some UK institutions will carry on with a blend of in-person and online tuition and support services until the autumn term, the need to support students to develop and maintain healthy digital habits is as pressing now as it was at the beginning of the pandemic. 

On 22nd April 2021, Tribal virtually attended a Student Minds led event - Covid-19 and Student Mental Health: Supporting the most impacted groups webinar, with the hope to listen to students’ experiences and learn about new resources available via Student Space. As a Student Space Comms Champion Tribal want to share the content and resources to our audience.

According to mental health charity, Mind, nearly three-quarters (73%) of students said their mental health declined during the lockdown. As we begin to emerge from the seismic effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, thoughts turn to the longer-term impact of over a year of isolation, upheaval, and disrupted learning.