What comes after a student’s arrival on campus? What is their academic and emotional experience of the first few months at university, and how can we ensure they are prepared and supported to make the most of it? The need for transition support is clear: students from less advantaged backgrounds are less likely to continue their studies and are less likely to gain a 2:1 or a first than students from a more advantaged background.
To explore this issue further we ran a knowledge exchange event with colleagues from schools, FE colleges, universities and third sector organisations. At the event, we discussed themes that emerged from two pilot projects run by Villiers Park and the Brilliant Club that address the transition to and through university, both of which were supported by the UPP Foundation following its Student Futures Commission.
Villiers Park piloted a transition programme Bridge to Your Future, to support students preparing for and attending their first year of university, with coaching sessions exploring their own values to develop a sense of belonging at university. The Brilliant Club runs Join the Dots, a transition programme that brings together schools and universities to support students who are most likely to face barriers during the transition to higher education.
As a new cohort of students have embarked on their transition to university, we have today published a briefing paper on the key themes and present a call to action at an institutional and national level.
The key themes
Personalised support, such as one-on-one coaching, builds confidence and agency, helping students adjust to university-level study. Students who had participated in Villers Park and Brilliant Club programmes emphasised the importance of this kind of support to help them navigate the challenges they faced in the first few months of university.
Sarah, who took part in the pilot year of Join the Dots and who is now a second-year student at the University of Manchester, spoke about the importance of early, personalised support, and how intimidating the university academic environment is for a student with no knowledge or experience of higher education:
I thought the idea of having a PhD coach was really useful […] because I was really worried and anxious and thought to myself: how do I write an essay? How do I reference? How do I produce work that is of university standard? Even though I had done the foundation year, nothing can truly prepare you for first year than somebody who’s been through the same system at your university.
One-to-one support also emerged as an important factor in students developing a sense of belonging at university, as well as confidence that they can do well in their studies.
Transition programmes aren’t about a student belonging specifically to the programme they are enrolled on, the charity they are working with, or the university they are attending. Instead, the programmes provide them with the opportunity to develop confidence and a sense of belonging to the idea of themselves as students and scholars. Prasanna, who participated in the Villiers Park transition pilot, said:
[My coach] also taught me how to network. Before I didn’t know where to get support from and now I have the confidence to look for support at university, talk to my peers, and that’s just something that’s been really helpful.
Transition support should start early and continue throughout students’ university journey to foster long-term success. Delegates highlighted the importance of pre-arrival programmes in preparing students for higher education, as well as ongoing support to prepare for life beyond university including assistance with job search, internships, and practical life skills to confidently move into professional employment.
There was also consensus across panel and break-out discussions that collaborations can improve transition for students from under-represented backgrounds, enhancing support structures with guidance through the student journey and removing institutional barriers to centre interventions on the individual. There is encouraging appetite for transition programmes from headteachers and teachers, who remain invested in their students long after results day. These transition programmes help bridge those gaps between educational institutions, not just for students, but for teachers and schools too.
A call to action
As students navigate the sometimes-challenging period between school and university study, the work of organisations like Villiers Park and the Brilliant Club becomes increasingly vital.
We believe that transition support needs to be embedded in the university journey at a systemic level. Excellent practice, with proven results, exists but is far from universal and not consistently resourced. We ask the government to establish a National Transition Programme, which would include allocated government funding to support the development and implementation of transition programmes that support students from school or college to university, with an initial focus on supporting some of the 20,000 pupil premium-eligible students who enter higher education at age 18.
Collaboration is key to ensuring effective implementation on the ground. More opportunities are needed for universities, schools and the third sector to collaborate to develop transition programmes. This could involve establishing a sector-wide network, and/or a platform that brings together links to all the transition resources, thus ensuring that the issue is amplified, good practice is disseminated, and partnership approaches are embedded into future solutions.
