Last year international students told us about their experiences with forming friendships and the cost-of-living crisis. This year we are asking the hard-hitting questions about barriers to your experiences. Has Royal Holloway become a home away from home? We want to know.
Last year international students told us about their experiences with forming friendships and the cost-of-living crisis. This year we are asking the hard-hitting questions about barriers to your experiences. Has Royal Holloway become a home away from home? We want to know.
The Project
The international student experience in higher education is often overshadowed by concerns about visas, changing immigration rules and the rising cost of living. Last year, the Students’ Union launched a survey to learn more about these experiences at Royal Holloway. We asked if you felt welcomed by other students and staff in your department, how your friendships were formed, and how the cost-of-living crisis had impacted your studies. The results from the survey told us that most students did feel welcomed and included, they primarily made friends on their course, and nearly all felt their student experience had been negatively affected by the cost-of-living crisis.
This year, we want to delve deeper and ask more detailed questions about specific areas of the international student experience, so we can work collaboratively with the University to find solutions and create impactful, positive change.
The Survey
We are launching a second survey to give you the opportunity to speak freely about the positive and negative elements of international student life and undertaking a degree. The survey will cover topics around personal and academic support, your engagement with activities and services, and your expectations of the degree compared to the reality.
Take The Survey Here!
The survey is open for two weeks and will close on Sunday, 9 March at 23:59.
Cash Prizes
There is a total of £425 worth of cash prizes to be won from this survey. That’s right! By participating in this survey, you could be in for a chance to win:
To be eligible for a cash prize you need to complete the entire survey. We will be announcing winners over the next two weeks while the survey is live. The sooner you complete the survey, the more chances you have to win a prize!
Next Steps
We will share the results of the survey with students in a blog with infographics once the analysis is complete. A list of potential recommendations will be shared with students, the University and the Students’ Union at the end of Term Two. The full Student Insight Report will be published later this year and include the final list of recommendations.