The Unite Students Applicant Index is out.
Published with the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), the 36-question survey uses a 7-point agreement scale to generate composite scores in finance, social, community, independence, well-being, sustainability, resilience, learning, and employment (0 is the least positive, and 100 is most).
The data is then supported by follow-up qualitative questions.
The strength of this research is it tells us who our students are before they even arrive at the institution.
Similar to the work done on pre-arrival questionnaires – which looks at quantitative data around prior learning experience – this research seeks to understand the human psychology either helping or hindering students.
Rather than wait for students to approach institutional support once they are struggling – and probably a fair few weeks into term time – this data allows institutions to understand where, how, and why students are struggling
All about the money
Applicants are still motivated by education as an and in itself – but less so.
“I need a degree to get the job I want” has moved to second place. And achieving long-term financial stability is also important to the respondents.
The need to make what is now an expensive investment pay off all makes sense during a period of economic turmoil. And it is found in other areas of research on student and applicant motivation post-pandemic lockdowns and during the cost-of-living crisis.
Going to university has always been somewhat strategic to a lot of students anyway.
The Index shows that students are no longer simply choosing the best course and the best university to realise their academic, career, and financial goals post-graduation.
One in five applicants mentioned the cost of living in a certain location as a factor in deciding which institution to apply to. Respondents in the qualitative data cited living in cheaper cities, and a number of students described deliberately avoiding universities in London and focusing their search on institutions in the North of England where rent is cheaper – 42 per cent of applicants indicated that living costs were their greatest concern.
Applicants have to be financially strategic about where they apply in the first place, and how they are going to fund it.
This isn’t great news because applicant confidence that they have sufficient means to support them through their studies scored the lowest (58/100) of all categories – with those on free school meals being the most concerned.
Yet despite these rising living costs, authors note that there has yet to be a large-scale move towards commuter student life.
Support, community, and wellbeing
Even more bleak is that care-experienced and estranged applicants and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds reported low scores in questions that asked if they had people to turn to in a crisis.
While half of all applicants are concerned that they won’t fit in, working class, disabled, LGBTQ+, and neurodivergent applicants are much less confident of their welcome and sense of belonging and less likely to believe they will belong.
There are nets that students will fall through unless institutions prepare to wind the tight, now.
Interestingly, international applicants (73 per cent) feel more assured of their welcome and belonging when they arrive at university compared to UK applicants (68 per cent).
Health and wellbeing
Standard ONS wellbeing questions were used for the first time, with the section largely returning to pre-pandemic levels – although the data may be skewed by an increase in international applicants who score well-being more positively.
They were also asked some additional questions – whether they feel loved, ashamed, rejected by others and capable of making decisions.
Over half of Chinese students report feeling “ashamed” (at a rate of 58 per cent) – a data point not explained in the report and may need further investigation if institutions are to continue to recruit large numbers of students from China.
Loneliness seems to co-exist with disadvantage – applicants with a disability or health condition are considerably more likely to be always or often lonely.
And rates of disability and health conditions have seen a rise – particularly in ADHD, physical or mobility impairments and sensory impairments. Not necessarily a bad thing – it is likely due to improved awareness and diagnosis or linked to improved support for disabled students in schools, colleges and universities.
There has also been a rise in eating disorders and health anxieties such as OCD. And over one-third had missed school for mental health reasons – highest among women and LGBTQ students.
That’ll learn ya
Applicant confidence about their ability to study and learn garnered a lower score than in previous years (69), with negative responses to all questions in the section. This is concerning, and all the more reason why institutions need to be aware of psychological levers around what students’ believe is an “ideal student”.
White applicants were more confident than Asian and Black applicants – which has relevance to the BAME awarding gap – but at the aggregate level, almost half think that they will struggle to keep up with their studies, although it is not certain if this is due to prior learning experiences, or the need to balance part-time work and other commitments.
Speaking of part-time work, applicants’ confidence in their ability to get a graduate job after their course was higher than in previous years. The authors suggest that this may be because applicants have addressed the cost of living by taking up more paid work, gaining work experience, and, therefore, enhancing their graduate prospects.
It’s a fair point but slightly tenuous. And it sits opposite to the findings from Wonkhe/Pearson interviews where students who had to work felt that the time spent away from studying hindered their attainment potential and graduate employability. The usefulness of paid work experience is also highly contingent on what type of paid work the applicant or student undertakes.
Better connected students, e.g. those with family in Law, may get better part-time opportunities than students who do not. The survey found that the confidence to get a graduate job is highest among those from higher socio-economic backgrounds.
The difference could also be applicants’ perception of employability versus enrolled students’ perception of employability. As the report notes, many applicants talked about taking an additional year or more to finish their A levels or equivalent – meaning they may have picked up more work experience before applying to university, that’s bolstered this confidence.
Enrolled students will be working alongside their studies and may feel differently about the value of such paid work once it begins interfering with the time needed to study.
All this well-paid job confidence aside, financial confidence while at university scored low – with 2 in 5 saying budgeting was impacting their mental health – balancing the numbers is a heavy cognitive load!
What this tells us
What this tells us is that applicants’ decision to go to university is increasingly complex and no longer straightforward.
Applicants are not just selecting the course most suited to their career goals but have to consider things such as where in the country the institution is located and whether they can afford the rent there.
Students are making strategic decisions in the face of a myriad of challenges, all while under the pressure to ensure their degree “pays off”.
On top of these decisions, students are battling a perceived disadvantage they feel by carrying a sense of loss – socially and educationally – from Covid, which is elaborated on in the qualitative data.
I have often spoken to my peers about how I didn’t realise quite how disadvantaged I was before I got to university and compared myself to my socioeconomically advantaged peers.
This report, however, shows us that disadvantaged students now feel disadvantaged before they even start their course. It also shows that understanding how students feel is as important as understanding where they have come from and what they need in terms of practical support.
Institutions working towards an inclusive environment where students can excel, and attainment gaps could close need to pay heed to these insights and the psychological levers shown to be at play.