We report on an exciting project, co-created with students to convert student suggestions into meaningful institutional change.
The challenge
Widening Participation (WP) students often struggle to establish a sense of belonging at university (Bunce et al., 2021). This lack of belonging is linked to gaps in academic outcomes between WP students and their non-WP counterparts (Office for Students, 2018).
Research indicates that WP students disengage further from their educational experience when they don’t feel listened to in their educational environment. Conversely, when WP students feel heard and respected for their individual differences, it positively predicts their sense of belonging at their institution (Thomas, 2020).
Despite our previous efforts to gather student feedback, recent National Student Surveys showed dissatisfaction with the opportunities for student voice, particularly among WP students. Barriers such as perceived tokenism and lack of tangible outcomes from their feedback led to disengagement. As one student noted, “I never see actual, tangible actions.” Another student echoed this sentiment, saying, “We’ve suggested changes, but we’ve heard nothing back.”
To address these challenges, the Plus Programme launched the Student Involvement Project (SIP) and from the outset collaborated with students to create meaningful change.
Our approach
We based the SIP on a public involvement/engagement model. This method fosters relationships between university staff and students from Widening Participation (WP) backgrounds, making the work entirely collaborative. Both parties are treated as equal partners in creating change.
This approach has been widely beneficial in the health sector and has shown positive results in education (Gapp & Fisher, 2006; Renedo & Marsden, 2011). However, it remains a relatively novel and untested approach when applied to the student population. By adopting this method, we aimed to ensure that WP students feel genuinely heard and valued, leading to more meaningful and effective outcomes.
Student-led at every stage
A steering group, including staff from across the University of Leeds, was formed to ensure underrepresented voices were captured cross-institutionally. This initial stage focused on gathering information, ensuring the project was inclusive as possible.
From the beginning, student input guided the process. Plus Programme Student Ambassadors evaluated and confirmed the project’s direction through focus groups before any activities began.
A student-led communication campaign raised awareness of the project to students across campus, resulting in a highly engaged social media post and 46 applications for ‘Access and Success Advisors’—student roles integral to the project’s success.
In the main phase, we captured student voices through six Listening Rooms with 13 WP students. Each two-hour session included a briefing and debriefing, and we recorded, transcribed, and anonymised the discussions.
But student input didn’t stop there. Student Access and Success Advisors reviewed snippets from the Listening Rooms in ‘Theme Groups’. They enriched these snippets with their own experiences and suggested tangible solutions to the identified issues. Students then formulated and carried forward action plans.
Student Insight: Aurora Braka as an Access and Success Advisor
It was really nice to have those spontaneous, informal conversations that ended up having a positive impact and actual change.
Medical student Aurora Braka discovered the Access and Success Advisor role through her work as a Plus Programme Student Ambassador. Eager to share her university experience with future students, Aurora was keen to contribute and got straight into the role:
“We had training as Advisors, and, after that initial training, we got assigned snippets from students who had spoken on different issues in the Listening Rooms, and we all got assigned different snippets to read.
“We had to summarise those snippets and then come back together to spot patterns of common issues and the positive things that came out of the Listening Rooms.”
Aurora felt pleased to see the issues identified in the Listening Rooms and 'Theme Group' discussions being converted into concrete actions:
“One of the issues which came up – that I was passionate about – was around accessibility of resources where e.g. someone may be part of the Plus Programme, but they didn’t really know how to access all parts of the Plus Programme because often communications were through e-newsletters which not everyone reads, or doesn’t read the entire thing, and so crucial bits of information were being missed.
“But now the Plus Programme has created their SharePoint that has everything and it’s really easy to navigate. Everything is compacted into one website and that’s great - it's really great that they've been able to implement that for students.”
Aurora enjoyed her experience with SIP and would gladly participate in the project again in the future:
“I liked how it didn't feel too formal. It was just a group of us students discussing our experience at university. It was good to have other people to relate to. We had a rough agenda, but sometimes conversations would divert to another topic and that was okay because this was student-led and so if we wanted the conversation to go in that direction, we could do that.
“It was really nice to have those spontaneous, informal conversations that ended up having a positive impact and actual change.”
“I would be part of the project if it was to run again, and I would definitely recommend it to any student who feels like they want to make a change.”
Did the Student Involvement Project fulfil its purpose?
We established the Student Involvement Project (SIP) to address the disconnect between student voice contributions and the lack of tangible outcomes. Here are some examples of progress so far, showing how student voices have led to impact.
Students suggested:
- Holding focused Plus Programme events to promote a non-drinking culture at Leeds, especially during Freshers and transition periods.
- Implementing a peer mentoring scheme within the Plus Programme.
- Creating a dedicated page on SharePoint for imposter syndrome, including links to resources and student stories.
- Sending more information to students’ personal emails ahead of starting university.
The Plus Programme team have:
- Held a collaborative social event during Freshers Week with the Plus Programme and High on Life, attended by over 100 students and received positive feedback.
- Launched the ‘Plus Pal’ scheme, featuring peer-to-peer content like testimonials and videos to promote connectedness.
- Worked with students to create testimonials and videos on imposter syndrome, which will be added to the new Plus Programme intranet.
- Sent out a Welcome + campaign with key information and interactive resources to all incoming students.
These changes are just the beginning. The Listening Rooms and 'Theme Group' discussions provided a wealth of valuable information that will take time to implement across the institution. However, we are determined to act on this feedback and remain committed to an ongoing cycle of improvement.
What next?
We are planning to run the Student Involvement Project again. For the next delivery, we are looking to develop training for staff and students in partnership work and enhance our student-led listening even further.
If you would like to learn more about the Student Involvement Project, please contact the Plus Programme by emailing theplusprogramme@leeds.ac.uk.