Is it time to reimagine the student learning experience?

By Ailsa Crum, Associate Principal Consultant / 13 October 2025

In this fast-paced world with the increasing cost of living, advancements in technology, such as generative AI, and changing student expectations, is it time to consider how the student experience is changing, how far it might change and where our attention needs to focus?

Time is not on their side

Pedagogy is changing but so are our students and the amount of time they have available for study. It is now the norm for students to be in paid employment during term time. Increasingly students are effectively working full-time hours while also studying full-time. It’s an economic necessity and students need to support themselves, but what impact does this have on their learning?

Cost of living increases mean more students opting to live at home while they study. Those that do move to university towns can find themselves living well outside walking distance to campus. Those travelling long distances often miss out on extra-curricular opportunities that, traditionally, have been a key part of the wider university experience.

Skills and opportunities from activities outside the curriculum provide a rich, holistic learning experience and an excellent opportunity for students to develop or practice skills that, amongst other benefits, promote their employability beyond their structured learning. Many institutions also offer awards or other forms of recognition for these activities. But, due to time constraints, many students are unable to join clubs and societies or be part of the wider university community.

This leads us to ask:

• Is there more we can and should do to acknowledge these shifts in student behaviour?

• Is it time to redefine the student experience?

• Is there more we can do to help widen engagement in these extra but highly valued opportunities?

Seeking the hidden curriculum

The need to unveil the ‘hidden curriculum’ – the concept that HE uses jargon without sharing the often-hidden meaning of key terminology and why it is important – is increasingly clear.

This will provide clarity to students about what they are expected to do and why. The expectations themselves may not be articulated or are inferred in ways the uninitiated simply do not perceive. We often think of this work as being aimed at students who are first in their family to study at HE level, but how many of us really know the difference between a seminar and tutorial or the expectations for an essay versus a dissertation? And of course, expectations differ between institutions and often between subject communities.

As student populations become more diverse, the importance of being explicit about expectations becomes more urgent.

This leads us to ask:

• How do students know what to expect at your institution? Is it clear and simple enough?

• How would a new student find out about opportunities such as how to become a class rep, join clubs and societies, or where to access peer support?

Work-related and work-based study

In response to the rise of technology, growing concerns about assessment security, and successive governments’ emphasis on skills, there is increasing interest in helping students develop skills within the curriculum. This has also led to renewed attention on competence frameworks as a way of describing both the curriculum and student achievement – sometimes even replacing the more traditional language of learning outcomes. Developing graduate skills is not new, of course, universities have been doing this for centuries. The shift in language is more recent as is the growth in degree level apprenticeships and other formal arrangements for work-based study.

This leads us to ask:

• What does it mean to have higher education linked so closely to particular skills and even particular jobs?

• What opportunities do students studying in work-based pedagogies have to engage in wider aspects of student life?

It’s technology, but not as we knew it

The pandemic compelled the UK HE sector en masse to get familiar with online assessments and to use technology to deliver learning and teaching in new ways. Some described the experience as a moment of pause or a pivot point in thinking about pedagogy and the role of technology in learning. Fast forward a few short years and another revolution is upon us; generativeAI first had us asking if we should allow its use, but this swiftly moved to acceptance that it is impossible to ban, now it is interwoven within our everyday digital tools. We are still learning and wondering where this technology will take us, what it will mean for the validity of awards, the nature of student support and the role of human versus machine.

There are big and smaller questions to be asked:

• How different will the student experience be for humans born today compared to those studying now?

• What will it mean for the relationship between staff and students?

• What does responsible use of genAI look like and who is responsible for the data it draws on?

• What steps have you taken to ensure all students have equivalent access to the tools they need to complete their studies?

  
  

Whose students are they anyway

How well do you really know your student population, where they come from, how they got here, what they want to achieve next? And how well are your learning and teaching strategies aligned with your recruitment targets? Do you have the pedagogy, educators, learning support and physical or virtual space to accommodate their study and support needs?

Students of all ages are adjusting their expectations, more expect to study part-time or effectively part-time, although the appetite to study in a modular fashion is not yet proven (based on the experience of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement pilots). However, this may be more about culture in the UK and existing practical barriers to modular study which, with implementation of the LLE and other initiatives such as Recognition of Prior Learning frameworks, could change.

Today’s students are much more likely to regard HE as investment in their future and careers, as opposed to meeting a desire to spend 3 or 4 years reading the texts they love. Some studies suggest this may promote transactional behaviour which is generally linked to poorer academic performance.

External reporting requirements could potentially create over emphasis within institutions on outcomes which, in turn, might lead to overlooking the journey to achieve them – the actual student learning experience, with all its highlights and imperfections.

Which leads us to ask:

• What steps do you take to really understand the motivations of your students?

• How can you enthuse them about the prospect of developing knowledge and skills embedded in the bodies of knowledge?

• How do you support your students from different backgrounds with different characteristics to learn from and respect each other?

A vision for 2030

By 2030, it may not be a full-scale revolution, but we’ll see substantive evolution in the student experience, including:

• More students studying in the workplace through apprenticeships and other in-work formats.

• Much wider use of genAI, not only in the learning sphere but driving professional services, perhaps saving time for more human to human interactions.

• Continuing diversity in the student body, with increasing numbers studying in flexible modes and at different points in their lives and careers.

We may even formally acknowledge there is no one student experience but a spectrum almost as varied as the student population itself. And, one day, hold each of those experiences in the same regard.

Conclusion

The nature of the student experience has been changing, especially for students who do not have financial support that enables them to focus full time on their studies. A range of other adjustments has been introduced that affect the content of curricula and the wider range of opportunities we offer students. With the increasing rise of genAI, there are likely greater changes in store for pedagogy and the way in which higher education is designed and delivered. Institutions are responding to all these forces in many and creative ways to guard against a holistic student experience being the preserve of those who can afford it.

Institutions are getting ahead now by thinking about the fundamental nature of the student experience, what it is feasible to offer, and what it is practical for students to access.

Support from Strive Higher

If you would like a conversation about any of the issues raised in this article, please get in touch.  

We can support you to:

• Understand your student population and put in place measures to support their needs.

• Prepare staff and students for evolving pedagogical approaches and new modes of delivery.

• Develop or refine your strategy, prioritising the interventions to achieve your institutional goals and ensuring your policies and practices are coherent and aligned.

• Ensure your professional services are operating effectively and fit for future needs.