Roadblocks or Roadmaps: A new report on the student experience

01 Oct 2024

New research from The Brilliant Club shows that students from less advantaged backgrounds are facing significant roadblocks to participating fully in university life.

We are pleased to announce the publication of ‘Roadblocks or Roadmaps: Navigating the University Experience’, our new research study on the undergraduate student experience, delivered in collaboration with the Bridge Group.

As part of this research, we asked a group of 155 students who previously took part in The Scholars Programme to reflect on their university journey so far, via a survey and interviews. The students, now undergraduates at universities across the UK, discussed the academic, emotional, and financial barriers they faced when they progressed to university.

The study explores the connection between academic skills, sense of belonging, and financial pressures during university, and how they impact student success, especially for students from less advantaged backgrounds. You can read the full report here.

Key Findings from the Report:

• Students from less advantaged backgrounds are facing significant roadblocks to participating fully in university life. Academic studies, sense of belonging, and finances are all interconnected. For example, students who can afford to attend socials feel more connected to their peers, carrying out paid work alongside studies affects academic performance, and having a supportive peer group affects both studies and belonging. Financial issues tend to make the other two roadblocks more impactful and pronounced.
• Confidence in academic studies increases as students move through undergraduate studies, moving from 61% in the first year to 77% in the third year – which shows the importance of acting early in the student lifecycle to bolster these feelings.

• Fifty-two percent of the students who completed the survey said they had at one point struggled financially during their studies and 15% of respondents said they had considered dropping out of their course for financial reasons.

• Students who had been eligible for free school meals in school were less likely to say they belonged at university than those who were not eligible (76% vs. 80%) and that they felt supported by their university (62% vs. 76%). Sense of belonging gradually increased as students progressed through their studies (see graph below).

• Interview findings indicated that there may be a difference in the level of academic support and sense of belonging between collegiate and other universities – students at non-collegiate universities generally said that they had access to fewer resources than those at collegiate universities. The opposite is true for sense of belonging – several students who attended collegiate universities noticed a socioeconomic gulf between themselves and their peers, and sometimes felt alienated in the university environment.

Quotes from the interviews conducted as part of the study

Our recommendations:

It is important to get the university experience right: going to university remains a formative experience for young people in the UK, and the number of students attending university is rising year-on-year. As such, the report has four recommendations for the government and the wider university sector:

1. Reinstate maintenance grants to address the financial difficulties that many students face on university campuses.
2. Implement a nationwide student transition programme that provides academic and pastoral mentorship during the first few months of university.
3. Encourage collaboration between schools, universities, and the third sector to ensure that students are supported throughout the student lifecycle, and beyond.
4. Require universities to provide networking and professional development opportunities for students from less advantaged backgrounds.

Anne-Marie Canning, MBE, CEO of The Brilliant Club said: “This report ties together the access and student success agendas which need to work together in lockstep to ensure students from less-advantaged backgrounds can flourish at our universities. I hope the report will foster collaboration across sectors and organisations to better support first generation students in their higher education journeys.”

Dr Penelope Griffin, Director of Higher Education and Impact at the Bridge Group said: “While we may have been aware of the financial pressures on students, this report is important in showing the extent of their impact. Lack of money affects students’ capacity to benefit from a university education and to progress to a good job. It’s not just these students who lose out – the whole country does.”

Nandipha Mundeta, an Ambassador at The Brilliant Club and second-year student at the University of Bristol, said: “For underrepresented groups, higher education is often depicted as an equaliser, where access will pave the way for improved life trajectories. Yet, as this research highlights, it can feel like the beginning of a new uphill battle, laden with socioeconomic challenges, academic pressures, and financial stress.”

To find out more about the barriers faced by less advantaged students on campus and read the full report, click here. You can also read more about Join the Dots, our transition programme that provides a network of support for less advantaged students in the first few months of university study.