For wellbeing and student-services teams
Wellbeing & Support
Turning student feedback into proactive support.
Early signals of stress, belonging and support needs, so help reaches students before problems escalate.
Students rate almost everything well. One thing stands out: academic stress
Across millions of student check-ins, scores cluster between 7 and 9 out of 10. One thing students rate sits well below the rest at 6.0: managing the stress of studying.
Social · CorrelationStudents who feel they belong cope far better with academic pressure
Across thousands of paired student responses, students with a strong sense of belonging score close to two points higher on stress and wellbeing than students who feel they don't belong. Belonging is not a nice-to-have. It is a buffer.
All · ScorecardWhere 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 · EngagementWhat students reach for help with, and when
Belonging triggers 22% of all in-the-moment help nudges, and February is the single biggest month for them. The topics that trigger that help, and the months it spikes, are a map of where student pressure actually lands.
All · RetentionWhat keeps students engaged through their studies
Students arrive wanting to finish. Whether they stay engaged is shaped by a handful of experience factors we can measure continuously: belonging, relevance, confidence, and the pressures that wear them down. Exam-readiness confidence runs around 7.4 out of 10 at term start and falls to 5.4 by April.
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.
All · Myth-busterStudents aren't disengaged. They're overwhelmed
The sector worries about disengaged, unmotivated students. The data says the opposite: belonging, confidence and interest are among the higher scores we measure. What students struggle with is the pressure.
All · MethodFeedback as an early-warning system
A once-a-year survey tells you who struggled after they’ve gone. Continuous check-ins surface the signals (falling belonging, rising stress, the exam-window wobble) while there is still time for a person to act.
Personal · Trend watchMoney is the fastest-rising pressure students report
Financial Pressure fell 1.8 points in six months, the steepest drop of any well-measured topic on the StudentPulse Index. But read what students actually ask for, and most of it isn't more money. It's information, signposting, and a few costs institutions already control.
Academic · Behind the averageMost apprentices are confident they'll find a placement. A minority quietly aren't.
Apprentices rate their confidence in finding a placement at 8.4 out of 10. Behind that average sits a small, acute minority for whom it looks hopeless.
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.
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 · 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.
Personal · Four factorsSelf-efficacy is built, not innate, and it moves wellbeing most
EVA's research finds self-efficacy the factor most tied to student wellbeing, cutting the risk of poor wellbeing by 17 points. It reflects whether students believe they can handle the academic demands in front of them, and it is shaped by clear expectations and visible progression.
Social · Four factorsEveryday academic collaboration, not the fixed study group, is the lever
EVA's research finds that students who collaborate academically drop out less, score higher and report better wellbeing. The distinctive finding: general collaboration across the programme matters more than any single study group, and institutions set the conditions for it.
All · AnalysisThe student experience looks flat. Split it three ways and it isn't.
The overall student experience sits near 8 out of 10 and barely moves all year. That steadiness averages together three domains moving very differently: the personal experience swings hardest into every exam window, while the social fabric barely flinches.
Social · Four factorsBelonging is the factor most tied to wellbeing, and it is won early
EVA names belonging the factor most important for student wellbeing, and finds it is formed most in the transition into study life. That makes it measurable and actionable from the first weeks, not something to fix once a student is already drifting.
Turning student feedback into proactive support.
Early signals of stress, belonging and support needs, so help reaches students before problems escalate. See the sector picture in the State of the Student Experience 2026, or book a demo to see it for your own students.