Research

October 2026 · With Studiosity

Keeping the learning real

An integrated approach to academic integrity in the age of AI

Institutions are moving from detecting AI misconduct to supporting students to use AI well, through pedagogy and assessment design. The report maps five areas of practice – AI literacy, closed and open assessment, validating learning, and a culture of openness – that together make academic integrity coherent, and trusted by students.

Based on a review of current guidance and practice, two round tables with senior leaders and professional bodies, and one with student representatives, September 2026.

• Full reportPDF

June 2026 · With evasys

Survey feedback for student success

A framework for building effective student survey feedback systems

Student survey feedback creates the most value when it is treated as a system. Low response rates, staff who doubt the data and students who feel asked but not heard feed one another – the framework works through those recurring problems, with a reflective tool for institutions to test their own practice.

Based on work with a reference group of 20 institutional leaders and survey practitioners, and 11 examples of practice from across the sector.

• The frameworkPDF

April 2026 · With Kortext

Educating the AI generation

How institutions are supporting and developing educators to teach in an age of AI – why the change required is pedagogical rather than technological, why the institutional response is a human rather than a policy challenge, and what controlled experimentation can do.

Based on three private round tables with senior leaders from more than 25 institutions, January 2026.

• The reporton kortext.com ↗

March 2026

Trained to stop learning

How students are experiencing assessment and learning in an age of AI

Assessment design – not AI policy – decides whether students use AI to learn or to produce. Students are submitting work they cannot fully explain, and unclear rules fall hardest on those trying hardest to comply.

Based on a survey of 1,055 students, weighted for gender and level of study, and student focus groups.

• Full reportPDF
• Key findings deckPDF

November 2025 · With Advance HE

Securing educational excellence in higher education at a time of change

Leaders describe a sector on a “wartime footing”. The report maps the tensions they are navigating – from public trust versus sector autonomy to the pace of technology versus institutional capacity – and what it will take to secure educational excellence.

Based on roundtables with 11 institutional leaders, 15 principal fellows of Advance HE and three student representatives, March 2025.

• The reporton advance-he.ac.uk ↗

March 2025 · With Kortext

Capability for change

Preparing for digital learning futures

What institutions need to be able to do to reach their digital learning and teaching ambitions – capability across the whole organisation, “digital dexterity”, and technology providers acting as partners rather than suppliers.

Based on in-depth discussions with leaders of learning and teaching and of digital, digital experts and students’ union representatives.

• The reporton kortext.com ↗

December 2024 · With Mills & Reeve

Connect more

Creating the conditions for a more resilient and sustainable higher education system in England

How much appetite the sector has for structural change – stepping in to support a struggling provider, merging, or collaborating short of merger – and what is missing from the legal and regulatory landscape to make it possible.

Based on confidential conversations with heads of institution, sector bodies, mission groups, regional networks, board chairs and a lender, autumn 2024.

• The reportPDF

December 2024 · With Cibyl

Students at work

Findings from Belong, Wonkhe’s student polling with Cibyl

Most students with jobs are working to live – two thirds to pay essential bills, more than a quarter towards their fees – and the hours and the travel squeeze the time left for study, rest and campus life.

Based on a Belong poll of 2,853 students, 1,461 of them in work, November 2024, weighted for gender and qualification type.

• Findings deckPDF

July 2024 · With Advance HE

Leading strategic change in higher education in challenging times

What it takes to lead change while costs rise and income is squeezed: trust is paramount, and leaders say time to talk and reflect with their peers can relieve the pressure.

Based on three roundtables – for governors, executive teams and heads of school – in June and July 2024.

• The reporton advance-he.ac.uk ↗

July 2024 · With Solutionpath and Kortext

From support to success

Building academic support systems around students

How universities are rethinking personal tutoring and academic support – what academics need from the system, and why describing a support system is the first step to evaluating it.

Based on a year’s work with six universities on how they design, run and evaluate academic support.

• The reporton solutionpath.co.uk ↗
• Academic support system modelPDF

October 2023 · With Kortext

Setting the curve

How universities are deploying technology for learning, teaching and student success

Pedagogy drives technology. Educators are enthusiasts for digital learning, but the difficulty of institution-wide change, competing priorities and money hold universities back – and generative AI divides opinion.

Based on a survey of 463 academics and learning and teaching professionals in spring 2023, and interviews with sector leaders.

• The reporton kortext.com ↗

October 2023 · With Pearson

Cost of living and belonging

How financial struggles shape students’ connection and engagement

Students struggling to meet basic living costs are less likely to feel on track with their learning, to attend, or to have a support network of friends – and more likely to say their mental health has got worse.

Based on a survey of 908 students.

• Charts and survey dataPDF

October 2023 · With Solutionpath

Students’ views of learning engagement analytics

Eight in ten students think learning engagement analytics are a good idea, and most want a flag for low engagement to lead to a conversation with their personal tutor rather than an email.

Based on a nationally representative poll of 496 students by Cibyl, June 2023.

• Findings deckPDF

September 2023 · With Advance HE

Looking outward

The changing people needs of higher education

University leaders are turning outward – to research impact, enterprise, employability, internationalisation and their places – and that changes what their people need, and how leadership is shared.

Based on interviews with heads of institution around the world, summer 2023.

• The reporton advance-he.ac.uk ↗

July 2023 · With Adobe

Future-proofing the curriculum for success

Why and how universities are changing their curricula, and how they turn ambitions for curriculum change into reality – valuing the small “roofshot” innovations as well as the moonshots.

Based on structured conversations with university leaders, spring 2023.

• The reportPDF

November 2022 · With Solutionpath

Drawing links between insight, practice and student success

How three universities are using learning engagement analytics to understand their students and tailor the support they offer – and what it means for student success.

Based on action research at University College Birmingham, the University of the West of England and Teesside University, 2021–22.

• The reporton solutionpath.co.uk ↗

October 2022 · With Pearson

Building Belonging

The four foundations of belonging at university

Belonging rests on four foundations – connection, inclusion, support and autonomy. Friendship and peer connection matter most to students, and belonging goes hand in hand with mental health and academic confidence.

Based on a survey of 5,233 students with 15 students’ unions, a survey of 430 staff, 240 student diary entries, focus groups and 52 projects from across the sector.

• Full reportPDF
• Student survey findingsPDF
• Staff survey findingsPDF

June 2022 · With Kortext

Learning technology and learner success

Six in ten academics expect significant change to teaching, seven in ten say students should get core digital resources at no extra cost – and it is peers, not institutions, they turn to for support.

Based on a survey of 372 academics, April and May 2022.

Read the findings on Wonkhe

February 2022 · With Handshake, AGCAS and Institute of Student Employers

Careers 2032

The next decade of careers support in universities

How careers support might look in ten years – less about earlier and more intensive use of the careers service, more about development woven through the course, with technology making connections easier.

Based on sessions with students, students’ unions, careers professionals and employers.

• The reporton joinhandshake.co.uk ↗
• The conclusionon joinhandshake.co.uk ↗

February 2022 · With Kortext

Wellbeing and inclusion in the age of blended learning

A survey of leaders of learning and teaching

Leaders expect significant change to learning and teaching, driven above all by student expectations. Inclusion and wellbeing top their priorities, and community and care will outlast the pandemic.

Based on a survey of 66 leaders of learning and teaching, autumn 2021, and a roundtable.

• Survey findingsPDF

January 2022 · With Adobe

Changing assessment

The barriers to assessment change, and what enables it

The pandemic pushed universities beyond the timed exam. Making assessment change stick means making space for new ideas about what assessment is for, owned by staff and students in their disciplines – not more rules.

Based on interviews with seven leaders of learning and teaching and a roundtable of 13 senior leaders, autumn 2021.

• The findingsPDF

November 2021

Wonkhe community survey 2021

Readers rated their organisations’ handling of the pandemic well, but were less sure they had the strategy and leadership to move forward – a sector pulled in too many directions.

Based on a survey of 642 Wonkhe readers, summer 2021.

Read the findings on Wonkhe

June 2021 · With Adobe

A curriculum for a complex world

Students’ views on digital literacy in the curriculum

Students value what their course is building in them, but feel their digital literacy is assumed to be higher than it is – and want a more open conversation with staff about developing it.

Based on focus groups with 105 students, run by twelve students’ unions.

• The findingsPDF

June 2021 · With Kortext

The future of learning resources

The move online sent demand for electronic learning resources through the roof. Three commissioners sketch a collaborative, sustainable future that works for learners, librarians and publishers.

Based on a half-day micro-commission, April 2021.

Read the findings on Wonkhe

March 2021 · With Aula

Digitally enabled learning and teaching during Covid-19

What educators experienced, and what they hope for next

Most educators hope to keep the best of face to face and digital after the pandemic – a richer, more inclusive learning environment, led by pedagogy rather than technology.

Based on a survey of 630 academics and professional staff.

• The findingsPDF

February 2021 · With Pearson

The expectation gap II

Students’ hopes for learning and teaching in the next normal

After a hard autumn online, students are open to flexible learning after the pandemic – though only four in ten thought their teaching that term had been good enough.

Based on a survey of 3,389 students with students’ unions at nine universities, December 2020.

• The findingsPDF

February 2021

Taking the debate forward

A code to secure and champion freedom of speech and political diversity on campus

Just six of almost 10,000 students’ union events with an external speaker were cancelled in 2019–20. Three student leaders propose a code for students’ unions to secure free speech and political diversity.

Based on a consultation and call for evidence led by three students’ union leaders.

• The code

January 2021 · With Adobe

Skills to Thrive

Academics’ perceptions of student skills development

Educators agree students need more than subject knowledge – communication, problem solving, resilience, adaptability – and that those skills are best built into the curriculum, in partnership with professional services.

Based on a survey of 826 academics and professional staff.

• Findings deckPDF

November 2020 · With Trendence UK

Don’t drop out

The social costs of Covid restrictions on students

More than half of students felt lonely every day or every week – and loneliness, and not feeling part of a community, were strongly linked to thinking about dropping out.

Based on a survey of more than 7,000 students at 121 institutions, run with Trendence UK and 30 students’ unions, October 2020.

• The main resultsPDF

July 2020 · With Pearson

The expectation gap

Students’ experience of learning during Covid-19 and their expectations for next year

Learning in lockdown was hard on students’ wellbeing, motivation and confidence – and improving online learning would do the most for their engagement and wellbeing the next year.

Based on a survey of nearly 3,500 students through students’ unions at 13 universities in England and Wales.

• The findingsPDF

March 2020 · With Pearson

The secret life of students’ learning

DIY learning resources

Students stitch their own learning together from Google, YouTube and podcasts – aware of the limits, and of the stigma attached to citing it.

Based on focus groups with students at three universities.

Read the findings on Wonkhe

November 2019 · With Minerva

I, vice chancellor

Finding the humanity in higher education leadership

How vice chancellors look after themselves, build shared values with their teams and communities, and keep hold of their humanity through challenging times.

Based on in-depth interviews with heads of institution from across the UK.

• The reportPDF on minervasearch.com ↗

October 2019 · With Trendence UK

Opportunity blocked

How student opportunities and SUs relate to student life, belonging and outcomes

Students who take part in activities are twice as likely to have a large group of friends and more likely to feel they belong – but those opportunities, and what they bring, are not evenly shared.

Based on Trendence UK’s survey of 17,359 university students, 1,896 graduates and 808 school students, commissioned by students’ unions.

• The reportPDF

May 2019 · With EY-Parthenon

Wonkhe 360

Front line perspectives on HE policy

How the policy-engaged people at the front line of higher education see the policy environment: optimism that fades further down the hierarchy, a national debate seen as fragmented and immature, the agendas taking up desk space, and what it is like to be a woman working in HE policy.

Based on a survey of 212 people working across UK higher education – the Wonk Panel – February 2019.

• The reportPDF

March 2019 · With Trendence UK

Only the lonely

Loneliness, student activities and mental wellbeing

Loneliness is common among students and closely tied to their mental wellbeing – and social activity on the course matters as much as anything a central service or SU runs.

Based on a survey of 1,615 students at 103 universities through Trendence UK, January 2019.

• The reportPDF