We have recently seen a lot of news reports (Guardian and the BBC to name two) predicting the “biggest ever” dropout rate for this year's new intake of students, and the Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on university finances Report for the University and College Union in April, predicting approximately 232,000 students will not enrol in 2020-21 – equivalent to a 24 per cent decline.
However, there have also been many more positive, or at least more measured “let’s wait and see”, reactions from the sector. For example, Professor Cliff Allan, former vice-chancellor, Birmingham City University and Studiosity UK Academic Board member, said that “Universities have been putting in place significant additional online study support and student help-seeking services to mitigate many of the possible risks to student continuation during the pandemic.”
The IFS November 2020 report says that “universities might still lose income if large numbers of students drop out before completing their degrees” when discussing the risks faced to HE finances. Perhaps the key words to focus on in this statement are actually the “if” and the “might”.
“Universities have been putting in place significant additional online study support and student helpseeking services”
Some feelings are born from logical, common sense – in times of economic and unemployment difficulties, universities can thrive. In a recent Studiosity partner profile interview, Professor Marilyn Holness, OBE, director of student engagement at the University of Roehampton, felt that “for many young people, going to university will be something that is a bit of a certainty in an uncertain time. I'm not trying to ignore the trends, but I just think that a lot of school leavers that I've been talking to and that we've been working with, are still looking for university places and seeing university as an option.”
One thing everyone is in agreement on is that we must make sure all of our students are fully supported throughout. Whether that’s ensuring a successful joining process, the continuation of their studies, their overall student satisfaction, and crucially in this uncertain environment, their well-being. Studiosity is one such service that aims to provide this kind of support to all students, at scale. It is an online, on-demand 24/7 service to help students with both academic writing and during those out-of-university hours study times.
“for many young people, going to university will be something that is a bit of a certainty in an uncertain time”
An independent study across six UK universities by researcher and consultant Professor Liz Thomas, showed that in every university the student continuation rate was higher amongst Studiosity users than the non-users. To come back to the point of financial implications of student dropouts, the protected income from this increase in student continuation amongst the Studiosity users alone, based on annual tuition fees of £9,000, amounts to £250k for one academic year, across these six UK universities. If this was extrapolated to the full cohort of the students in this study, this amount would increase to protected income by all universities amounting to anything up to £2.3 million for one academic year. The cost of providing this extra support therefore, becomes a logical decision both financially and supportively. The same study showed that the significant majority of students felt that Studiosity had improved their confidence (79 per cent), motivation (69 per cent) and study skills (79 per cent).
“In every university the student continuation rate was higher amongst Studiosity users than the non-users”
Professor Rebecca Bunting, Vice Chancellor at the University of Bedfordshire, feels that “a sense of belonging for students is key, and it links to student retention. The cause of not progressing for some students is often because they didn't feel that sense of belonging. Once this has been acknowledged, we can then consider all the things that can be done to support students. Studiosity's work fits in very well to this picture, and it's not the only way – there are many other forms of support that can be used to help students succeed."
In closing, Professor Allan best summarises by going on to say “while there remain increased chances of higher student drop-out rates during this pandemic, with consequent financial implications, universities are highly focused on ensuring enhanced academic support, student well-being and higher levels of direct student engagement. Such focus can include investment in the expertise and comprehensive study support services of organisations like Studiosity to complement in-house support. Given the evidence of success for student continuation and study enhancement such investment has a very good return.”
