Life at Essex: A new approach to understanding the student experience

At a time of uncertainty and change in the UK higher education sector, universities and students’ unions across the country are grappling with serious challenges—from financial pressures and workforce reductions to evolving student demographics and expectations.

At Essex, we knew we needed to respond. But rather than rushing to solutions, we took a different approach.

We paused. We listened. We asked the question: what is the Essex student experience really like right now?

This led to the creation of a major joint project between the University and the Students’ Union, culminating in a one-day landmark event: Life at Essex: A Student Experience Conference, held on Monday 23 June in Sub Zero. But the conference was just the beginning. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing a full written report of findings from the project, followed by a series of blogs from staff and students who contributed to the event, helping to share these insights more widely across our community.

Why now?

There were two major factors that made this work feel urgent and necessary.

First, the University is at a pivotal moment. With a new Vice-Chancellor joining us in August and the potential for a new strategic plan, there’s a natural opportunity to take stock and shape a new direction.

Second, the wider sector context cannot be ignored. We are all feeling the pressures of financial insecurity, cuts, and the changing needs of a more diverse and complex student body. These issues can feel insurmountable—unless we find a shared understanding of where we are now.

This project was our attempt to create that shared understanding. Our aim was to get everyone to a basecamp - a collective foundation of insight that will help us decide what mountains to climb next.

We know that the student journey with us does not begin and end every day at the classroom doors, but rather is a holistic experience made up of a myriad of social, work, family, community, study and other life dynamics and experiences. There is no one version of this experience – and no ‘ideal student’ on their ideal journey at Essex - but understanding the foundational elements of our students’ multiple journeys and the impressions students have of those elements, gives us a map for creating the most positive experience for our incredibly diverse community of students. 

What did we do?

From the start, this was a joint venture between the University and the Students’ Union. Our long-standing partnership laid the groundwork for meaningful collaboration, and we knew it was vital that we undertook this journey of evaluation together.

With backing from the Acting Vice-Chancellor, we established a Student Experience Strategy Group, co-chaired and representative of both university and SU colleagues. A core delivery team - made up of Joe Holmes (U VP Education) , Steve Haugh (Director of Marketing, Engagement & Strategy (Students’ Union), Lily-May Cameron (SU President), Barry Pryer (Dean of Postgraduate Taught Education) and Sarah Tattersall (Assistant Registrar) - led the project on a day-to-day basis, reporting regularly to stakeholders.

The work itself was divided into two key strands:

Student Research

Understanding the Essex student experience meant hearing directly from students - not just those who regularly engage, but also those whose voices are often less heard across all three of our campuses.

We ran new online and in-person surveys but also took a proactive outreach approach. We held on-campus activations in places students already were - at bus stops, in car parks, and outside the nursery - inviting groups such as student parents and commuters to share their lived experiences.

Alongside this, we reviewed over three years of SU-collected data, comprising more than 20,000 individual inputs. This included the Welcome Survey, Teaching Pulse surveys, department-level voice group data, our annual End of Year survey, and a new termly cross-institution student pulse which provided rich qualitative and quantitative insights.

Staff Research

If we were serious about understanding the full student journey, we also needed to understand how it feels from the perspective of the staff who deliver it.

We convened a series of mapping meetings, bringing together staff involved at every stage of the student lifecycle - from recruitment and admissions through to graduation and alumni engagement. These groups created space for honest reflection, surfacing strengths and successes, but also frustrations, inconsistencies and barriers.

The discussions were insightful, candid, and at times cathartic. They revealed not only where the student experience works well, but also where it doesn’t, both for students and the staff trying to support them.

Life at Essex: A Student Experience Conference

Rather than compiling a static report right away, we wanted to make the findings live. And so, we created Life at Essex: A Student Experience Conference - a day to share what we’d learned in a dynamic, accessible, and thought-provoking format.

Hosted in Sub Zero (our on-campus nightclub), the event aimed to push people out of their usual environments, to help them hear things differently. Attendees were seated randomly to spark new conversations. And in front of each participant sat a silver bell - like the ones at hotel receptions - inviting them to chime whenever a point resonated. The soft chorus of bells created a sense of real-time engagement unlike any other university event.

Across a packed day of lightning talks, case studies and provocations, speakers tackled topics such as: commuting students and place-based belonging; the changing profile of Essex students; academic consistency and process barriers; community and facilities; student support and the boundaries between services, how culture, governance and metrics intersect with experience. Speakers ranged from student leaders and senior leaders to frontline staff and students themselves, ensuring a diversity of perspectives and voices.

The response was overwhelmingly positive: 98% of delegates said they found the day insightful, and many commented that hearing student and staff voices side-by-side helped them make sense of their own experiences more clearly.

The conference painted a clearer picture of what students and staff are telling us. There is still much more beneath the surface, but one thing is clear: we need to zoom out and look at the whole system. At the moment, Essex does not have a shared strategy for student experience. We have an Education Strategy, but it does not reflect how non-academic life impacts academic success. Students do not separate lectures from food outlets, timetables, support services or spaces to belong. To them, it is all part of one experience.

Too often, our approach is fragmented. We respond to issues in isolation, delivering services in silos rather than designing the student journey as a whole. The result is a system that can feel inconsistent, overwhelming and difficult to navigate. With students and staff under pressure, we need to design proactively, not just react. We must create conditions that make it simple to belong, easy to access support, and easy to succeed. This is not about starting from scratch. It is about reconnecting, re-energising and co-creating an experience with students, not just for them. We have an opportunity and great ingredients for a fantastic student experience. Let’s take this opportunity together.

What happens next?

We’re not stopping here. The full report of findings from the evaluation project will be published shortly, providing a deeper dive into what we learned and offering clear insights to inform the next phase of University strategy. The work will be continued by Larra, Chloe Jeffery (new VP Education) and Alex Sablich (new SU President).

To accompany the report, we’ll also be releasing a series of blogs from speakers at the conference, giving staff across the University a chance to reflect on the topics in more detail and hear directly from those who have been involved.

As a new Vice-Chancellor begins their tenure, this work offers something rare: a shared, honest, and nuanced picture of the student experience today - and a powerful foundation for the future we want to build together.

To explore more key insights, take a look at our latest research findings.