Self-efficacy is built, not innate, and it moves wellbeing most

The factor closest to wellbeing

In 2026, EVA (the Danish Evaluation Institute) set out to find what actually promotes students’ academic outcome, wellbeing and completion at university. It found four factors that institutions can act on: academic engagement, self-efficacy, collaboration and belonging. The second, Efficacy, is the one most tied to how students feel.

Self-efficacy is students’ belief that they can handle the academic demands in front of them. It reflects their expectation of succeeding academically, and it shapes their motivation to continue, their grades and their wellbeing.

What it changes

-10 pts lower dropout risk, high vs low self-efficacy

+1.2 higher grade average

-17 pts lower risk of poor wellbeing

EVA 2026 · high vs low on this factor, corrected for background

Those are EVA’s numbers, not ours. They describe what happens to completion, grades and wellbeing when self-efficacy is high rather than low. The 17-point difference in wellbeing risk is the largest any of the four factors shows on that outcome.

Belief, not talent

Self-efficacy is easy to mistake for confidence you either have or you do not. That is not what the research describes. It is a belief that forms in response to experience: when students meet clear expectations, get feedback, and see themselves make progress, the belief grows. When demands are vague or the path forward is unclear, it erodes.

That distinction matters, because it tells you where the lever is. Self-efficacy is built, not innate. An institution that makes demands and progression visible is doing the work that raises it.

What our data shows

EVA measured self-efficacy against completion, grades and wellbeing. StudentPulse measures it continuously, and one measure shows the pattern most clearly: exam confidence.

Exam confidence runs around 7.4 at term start and falls to 5.4 at the April exam window. The dip is seasonal and predictable, not a sign that students have lost some fixed trait. It collapses on the assessment calendar and recovers afterwards. Because the low points are known months in advance, support can be timed to land before them. We cover that pattern in full in exam confidence is not a fixed trait.

The research names the factor. The Framework moves it.

Self-efficacy is not a single question you can ask once a year. StudentPulse measures it continuously, through the topics that make it up:

In StudentPulse today

7.6 Confidence & Self-Efficacy

6.7 Exam Confidence

Sector means, 0 to 10

The research tells you which factor matters. The StudentPulse Framework is how you see where you stand on it, at programme and cohort level, and watch it move as you act.

What works, where confidence is high

About six in ten responses on confidence sit in the top band, and the high-scoring comments rarely mention natural talent. Students describe clear expectations, a plan they can see, and staff who guide without taking over. Confidence is built by knowing what is required, being shown a route to it, and then being trusted to own the work.

What it means for institutions

1. Make demands and expectations clear. Self-efficacy grows when students know what is expected and can picture meeting it. EVA’s advice is concrete: clear learning goals, feedback, and worked examples that show what good looks like. When a check-in shows confidence slipping in a cohort, that is a signal to clarify the path, not to reassure.

2. Make progression visible so students build mastery. Confidence comes from experience of succeeding. Support and make visible the progression through a programme, so students accumulate the mastery experiences that let the belief take hold. Time that support to the calendar: the April dip is foreseeable, so put guidance and rehearsal before the exam window, not after it.

3. Signal that you believe students can succeed. Teachers signalling belief in students, including with hard material, is part of what raises self-efficacy. Route the signal to the people who can act on it. A short check-in at a meaningful moment surfaces the drift while there is still time to respond, and closing the loop with students shows them that answering changed something.

How we measure it

Self-efficacy is captured through the Confidence & Self-Efficacy topic and the related Exam Confidence topic, scored 0 to 10 across short check-ins. The exam confidence pattern above uses monthly means across all participating institutions over the last 12 months. The relationship between self-efficacy and outcomes is an association, not proof of causation. Cross-institution aggregate; no single institution identified; minimum group size applied. Student comments are de-identified, translated where needed, and drawn from the highest-scoring responses on the topic. The four factors and their effect sizes are from EVA (the Danish Evaluation Institute), 2026.