For quality, programme and teaching teams
Quality & Learning
Turning student feedback into trusted quality evidence.
What students reveal about teaching, feedback, curriculum and assessment. The longitudinal evidence quality teams can act on, and defend in review.
Where students thrive and where they struggle: the student experience scorecard
Three million datapoints, one map of the student experience. For leaders deciding where to focus, the shape is clear: the strengths are people and relationships, the gaps are pressure, communication and equity.
All · PatternWhat makes students recommend their institution
The students who would recommend their institution aren't the ones with the nicest facilities, or even the lowest stress. They're the ones for whom study feels relevant, who feel they belong, and who stay motivated.
Academic · Single-stat insightThe highest-rated thing in education is the teacher relationship
Of everything students are asked about, the very highest scores go to contact with a teacher: 9.1 for interaction in small classes, 8.3 for teachers who are approachable and supportive.
Academic · Single-stat insightStudents find feedback useful. They're less sure it reaches them in time
Across the dataset, students rate feedback constructive at 7.8 out of 10 but score being kept informed in time at just 6.2, a 1.6-point gap between feedback quality and timeliness.
Academic · Behind the averageBehind the average: a 7.9 in teaching hides two different classrooms
Teaching methods score 7.9 out of 10. But the average is a blend of two opposite experiences. Behind the Average reads the comments from the students who rated it lowest and highest, and they describe the same recipe.
Academic · Behind the averageStudents can handle the difficulty. They question the assessment.
Course difficulty scores 6.9 out of 10 with only 7% struggling, but alignment between assessment and learning objectives sits at 6.3 with nearly 1 in 4 in the bottom band. The friction is not how hard the course is; it is whether the assessment measures what students actually know.
Academic · PatternStudents only ask for help when asking feels safe
Two of the strongest scores students give describe one mechanism: help-seeking only happens when asking feels safe.
Personal · PatternExam confidence isn't a fixed trait. It cracks at exam time.
Exam confidence averages 6.7 out of 10, but it swings by roughly two points across the year and bottoms out at 5.4 during the spring exam window.
Social · Behind the averageWhat makes students speak up isn't class size. It's whether it's safe to be wrong.
Teacher interaction is the highest-rated experience students report: 9.1 out of 10, with 89% in the top band.
Social · Single-stat insightStudents' most reliable source of help is each other
Peer-to-peer help scores 8.4 out of 10, higher than any formal peer-support structure built around it.
Personal · Single-stat insightThe first thing students judge is whether anyone told them what's happening
Onboarding communication scores 8.1 out of 10, but it is the first impression a student ever forms, and the minority who hit silence form it at the most fragile moment.
Read the State of the Student Experience 2026
Our annual report: what three million student datapoints reveal about wellbeing, teaching and belonging, and what actually moves recommendation and retention. Free, for a work email.