Setting Out to Succeed: Insights from the University of Leeds’ Student Success Strategy

It’s a well-established principle across the higher education sector that outcomes and student experience are as important as widening access. It’s encouraging to see how far we’ve come in understanding the importance of outcomes such as completion, as well as the groups to target such as mature or care leavers.  

The regulatory environment understandably leads to a focus in identifying the interventions needed to address gaps in undergraduate student success outcomes. This is of course important and, by increasing the focus on evaluation and using theories of change, we’re helping to strengthen the evidence base.  

However, I want to take that aspect of the work as a given and propose that we must also focus on factors that allow us to identify and implement effective interventions while acknowledging the value of strategies to widen access and enhance student success at postgraduate level to extend the student lifecycle. This is what can move us from what could potentially be a fragmented, siloed approach to a more coherent end-to-end model.  

Making Space for Change 

Culture change is crucial in developing and implementing any student success strategy. This starts from what is working well to what needs to change, and we need to understand the various factors across the whole student lifecycle. The need for this focus on culture change comes up in many areas of research and related reports including the 'Close the gap – three years on' report on the work to address the ethnicity awarding gap. 

Driving these discussions requires intentional engagement with key stakeholders across the staff and student community to a) understand why change is needed, b) challenge a deficit-model and c) develop the skills to create and participate safe spaces for discussion and identification of change. But it isn’t that easy. Viewing student success through the lens of belonging and mattering certainly resonates with many and is a valuable gateway to frame what defines student success. It also enables most parts of an institution to consider their role in shaping belonging through experience, service provision and processes.   

However, if we can gain buy-in at all levels to embed student success priorities into institutional Key Performance Indicators, this helps to shape the governance, the focus of institution-wide leadership and accountabilities. Importantly, this buy-in offers opportunities to consider how an institution-wide approach can be enacted to drive every facet of student success. 

Creating space for staff and students to develop their own understanding and approaches can be extremely powerful. Communications, events, the voices of our students and our Students’ Union and learning events are all crucial in this space. Reverse mentoring or research methodologies such as listening rooms can be powerful vehicles for amplifying the voices of those who are minoritised and create the space for this to be more in-depth and reflective. It facilitates space to discuss identities as well as the fluidity within this – very few of us would describe ourselves through one single demographic for example.  

It’s this approach that has secured buy-in within my own institution, and others I work with, to recognise the importance of working on the student success cycle at all levels. If we’re to increase diversity in academia and in many professions we must look at who can access places and funding at postgraduate taught and postgraduate research levels. Postgraduate education may not be regulated but it is no less important for our communities, our future students and beyond.  

Leading the Way to Success 

However, a commitment to culture change wasn’t enough to implement a whole institution strategy spanning all of the student lifecycle. It’s easy for the work of student success to be centred around a single team or service. After all, the expertise and designated roles already exist. All our leaders need to understand what student success means for them.  

To effectively implement a strategy such as this there is a need for the work to be embedded throughout the institution with leadership as a key enabler. Our students’ experience extends right across the campus and therefore understanding of what student success looks like and collective responsibility for addressing barriers or gaps should reflect this.     

Services including IT, library, accommodation and our subject departments all have a vital role to fulfil and progress can be accelerated through cross-institutional working together on common priorities. 

Using Insight to Inform Action  

Data and qualitative evidence to outline the greatest gaps and the potential factors contributing to these have been important. No dataset is ever entirely complete but pairing this with research – particularly research and evaluation led by our students – is particularly impactful. Our Belonging and Success research group has brought together staff and students from across the institution who are interested in, or are undertaking, related activity. This has enabled co-creation with students, and outputs on areas including academic personal tutoring, belonging, inclusive curricula and more. More than that it’s a space to bring together leaders and future leaders to learn and work together on implementing change and measuring success.  

At the University of Leeds, the leadership in our Schools and Faculties have worked through data sets and qualitative evidence to understand areas of required focus and make meaningful change. This has led to enhancements to specifically address a gap in continuation, for example, and this in turn has benefited all students more widely. Similarly, our senior leaders have ensured that they consider wider changes to the curriculum or the student experience through the lens of students from under-represented groups.  

A Community of Best Practice 

I draw on my experience of implementing the Access and Student Success strategy at the University of Leeds but also from learning from many examples of good practice across the sector. However, I also recognise that there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach, so this is an example rather than a blueprint. I personally benefit from learning from all the great work across the sector and look forward to hearing more through HE Professional and beyond.

Louise Banahene is Director of Educational Engagement and Student Success at the University of Leeds.

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