NUS has called the recent Student Academic Experience Survey 2022 results ‘deeply concerning’ after it revealed students don’t think they’re ‘getting good value at university’.
The Advance HE/HEPI 2022 Student Academic Experience Survey results have been released and show, that not only, do student perceptions of value for money and other key indicators have ‘shifted positively toward pre-Covid levels’.
The study results show the responses of over 10,000 full-time undergraduate students and show mental health remains a very significant concern.
Results improve from 2021
According to the study results, mental health is the most common reason students give if they are considering leaving university (34% cited mental health, the next most cited reason was, ‘course content not what I expected’, 8%).
Students also recorded the importance of lecture staff being able to support them as well as mental health specialists.
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Student experience and value were also cited as issues, although they did show improvement from the previous year.
Measures of ‘experience versus expectations’ had 4% increase to 17% this year with students saying their expectations had been exceeded.
Alongside this, students who said their expectations had not been met fell from 27% (2021) to 17% (2022); most students, 51%, reported that their experience was ‘better in some ways and worse in others’. First-year students are noticeably more upbeat than those in their second or third year of study.
As for value, the number of students who felt they were ‘getting good value’ at uni did increase from 2021, but was still only just over a third (35%).
‘Deeply concerning’ results
Commenting on the Advance HE / HEPI Student Academic Experience Survey 2022, NUS Vice-President for Higher Education Hillary Gyebi-Ababio called the results ‘deeply concerning’.
She said: ‘It’s deeply concerning that the majority of students don’t think they’re getting good value at university, with students increasingly burdened by the rising cost of living.
‘We’re hearing from students who are working three jobs, can’t afford the bus ticket to their university library, and who are cutting back on cooking food to avoid spiralling energy costs.’
The NUS VP also called on the Government to do more to help students struggling with the cost of living.
‘The Government should introduce rent protections, offer basic levels of maintenance support, and announce a cost of living payment for all students,’ she added.
‘More are considering leaving university than last year, and mental health is cited as the core reason as anxiety amongst students remains disproportionately high. Students need urgent mental health support now, as well as protections to prevent thousands reaching crisis point.
‘Students from across the UK are desperate for something radically different. The current marketised, profit-driven model is broken. The Government needs to finally commit to a #NewVisionForEducation, which is fully funded, lifelong and accessible for all.’