If you knew more about your incoming student body what would you do to change your pre-arrival, arrival and orientation, and induction to study practices?
For example, if you knew that only 30 per cent of your incoming undergraduate students had experience of accessing learning materials in a school/college library, what library resource sessions would be provided on entry? Lack of library experience is exacerbated by the fact that since 2010, over 800 public libraries have closed in the UK.
If the course and IT team knew that over one-third of new postgraduate taught students had limited or no experience of using a virtual learning environment, what enhanced onboarding approach could be adopted?
If you knew that 12.4 per cent of undergraduate and 13.5 per cent of postgraduate taught students decided to study at a university closer to home due to the cost of living crisis, what teaching delivery pattern and support would you put in place for students who have a long commute?
If you knew for 43.7 per cent of UG and 45.4 per cent of PGT respondents, their attendance in their last final year of study was 80% or below due to 34.6 per cent of undergraduates and 25.0 per cent of postgraduate taught students experiencing mental health and wellbeing issues, what support would you put in place?
And if you knew that at undergraduate level, male respondents stated they were three times more likely to use sports facilities compared to mental health services, how could you promote mental health and wellbeing through sports?
All of these examples are taken from previous iterations of pre-arrival questionnaires (PAQs), run at various universities around the UK.
A lack of knowledge
As a rule we know very little about the prior learning experiences, concerns, worries, and expectations of university study of our incoming students. It is an area where limited work has been undertaken, and yet it is such a critical one if we are to effectively bridge the transition from secondary to tertiary education.
We have no idea about the different experiences of our incoming students by student characteristics, by region, or by type of institution. If we did, would institutions continue to be weighed, measured and judged in the same way as is currently the case?
Through my (Michelle’s) own learning journey as a mature, working-class, mixed-race female whose parents had no educational aspirations for me, when I finally went to do a degree at a polytechnic, I struggled to get the support I needed especially in terms of learning how to learn again after a five-year study break.
I was treated exactly the same as my 18-year-old classmates who had come straight from school. Assumptions were made that I should know and remember how to learn, and this was made very clear in negative feedback . But as we know, learning at school and college is different to university, and if you have been out of education for a while it can be a daunting experience reengaging with how to learn.
In the various roles I have undertaken and through the creation of my whole university integrated student experience model (SET model), I recognised that to enable effective change to happen not only in the learning sphere but also the support one, we needed data to understand where and how to make change. So over 20 years ago, I started creating and undertaking pre-arrival academic questionnaires (PAQ) at undergraduate and postgraduate taught level to get insight into different prior learning experiences and how these may impact on concerns, worries and expectations of higher education.
Purpose of the PAQ
NSS metrics are informative but it is only a snapshot of the university experience of those that made it nearly to the end of their degree. It does not reflect the voice of incoming students, and it does not provide any real time indication of what kind of support new students need.
The PAQ (formerly called the “entry to study survey”) is a powerful tool. Results can challenge change the assumptions of staff and university leaders, in terms of what they think they know about their incoming students. As with the postgraduate taught and postgraduate research experience surveys (PTES and PRES), the questions evolve to take into account of a changing environment, and the impact it has on our students (including things like Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis).
The PAQ also provides a meaningful course activity early on. It gets students to reflect on their learning, both on their past learning journey and expectations of university study. Students answer a range of questions across six sections that cover prior learning experiences, concerns on entry, how they expect to study at university, identifying what they see as their priorities in the coming year, their strengths and weaknesses, and expected university study outcomes. As it is delivered as a course activity, students engage with it.
Within three weeks of the PAQ survey closing, students get the headline findings along with relevant support and advice. This shows them that they are not alone regarding prior learning experiences, any concerns or worries they may have, and they know that their voice has been listened to.
The information gleaned from the PAQ helps inform every area of a university’s work from Access and Participation Plans to recruitment, orientation and induction to study to policy and support.
A national pilot
In September 2025, AdvanceHE and Jisc, funded by the Office for Students will commence the first of two annual waves of a national pilot in England, using the UG and PGT PAQ work I have undertaken at the University of East London and other institutions The aims and objectives include:
- To establish consistency in how the sector collects and acts upon information from students upon arrival around their learning styles, expectations, challenges and requirements.
- To drive dedicated activity at the local level to close the gap between expectations, requirements and the actual experience upon arrival.
- To provide robust data-led evidence to enable institutions to address inconsistencies in how different groups of students (for example by social background, qualification type, geography and demographics) begin their learning and develop a platform to progress to good outcomes.
- To create a fuller understanding across the sector of the Pre-arrival experience, providing evidence for wider policy making and cross-sector activity.
- To support providers in delivering a range of practical outcomes across different student groups, including improved wellbeing and belonging, improved continuation and attainment. Earlier and preventative intervention should further contribute to higher progression to further study or employment.
The questions in the PAQ contribute valuable insights and knowledge that align with the themes in the University Mental Health Charter.
How can you get involved in the National PAQ Pilot
Participating is free of charge (although a Jisc Online Surveys licence is required). As a benefit of participation, participants will receive fast turnaround results, detailed benchmarking reports, resources to boost participation and an invitation to an end-of-cycle dissemination conference.
In return for free participation, institutions are asked to proactively distribute and promote their survey at course level, drive transformation activity on the back of the results and develop a case study for each year of participation.
We are currently welcoming expressions of interest as we look to confirm participation with a representative sample of 20-30 institutions in each year of the pilot. Please complete the survey form with your expression of interest by the end of April 2025, and we will be in touch soon.
To raise specific questions or to set up a dedicated discussion please contact jonathan.neves@advance-he.ac.uk or M.Morgan@uel.ac.uk.
Congratulations to Michelle and Jonathan on this potentially game-changing initiative.
As a sector, we conduct many surveys – usually after it’s too late to do much for the respondents and the answers are often not informative for future next cohort because of time lags, changed circumstances or just because people are individuals. The PAQ provides an opportunity to support the same people who take the time to complete it.
It offers another opportunity too: we can get away from the snapshot survey and start to understand the impact of higher education. Imagine a graph with a single dot and being asked to measure the distance. It’s only by having an understanding of the starting point that you can see the distance travelled and what might help student go further or faster or make the journey smoother.
Also reflection at the start of a process, particularly and educational one, is as important as reflection at the end. It engenders metacognition – a sense of self-awareness and purpose. Even if universities were to do nothing with the results of the PAQ (which would be a missed opportunity), the students still benefit from being encouraged to look forward at what they may face, what might help them and what they might gain.
I’m really excited to see this work progress.
It’s deeply concerning that the Office for Students is spending public money from their “Innovation Fund” on a glorified survey.
It says a lot about the people who run the OfS that a project like this would be deemed to be an innovative widening participation solution.
It’s almost as if the OfS’s leadership have been living under a cardboard box for the past 30 years. Where are the AI projects?