Research into the undergraduate student experience shows connections between finances, belonging, and academic studies

02 October 2024

The Brilliant Club, in collaboration with the Bridge Group, has launched a new research report which found that the first year of study is crucial for building belonging and confidence in academic studies, and that financial pressures have a negative impact on both of these areas.

The study explores the connection between academic skills, sense of belonging, and financial pressures during university, and how they impact student success, especially for students from less advantaged backgrounds.

The study surveyed and interviewed a group of students who previously took part in The Scholars Programme, The Brilliant Club’s flagship widening participation programme that works with the PhD community to deliver university-style learning in schools. It asked the students, now undergraduates at universities across the UK, about the academic, emotional, and financial barriers they faced when they progressed to university. The Bridge Group advised on the approach to qualitative data collection and analysis and supported the overall qualitative research process.

Key findings from the report included:

• Students from less advantaged backgrounds are facing significant roadblocks to participating fully in university life, and that academic studies, sense of belonging, and finances are all interconnected.

• Confidence in academic studies increases as students move through their undergraduate studies, moving from 61% in the first year to 77% in the third year.

• Fifty-two percent of the students who completed the survey said they had at one point struggled financially during their studies.

• Students who had been eligible for free school meals in school were less likely to say they belonged at university than those who had not been eligible.

• There may be a difference in the level of academic support and sense of belonging between collegiate and other universities.

It is important to get the university experience right: going to university remains a formative experience for young people in the UK, and the number of students attending university is rising year-on-year. As such, the report went on to make several recommendations for the government.

Dr Penelope Griffin, Director of Higher Education and Impact at the Bridge Group said:

“While we may have been aware of the financial pressures on students, this report is important in showing the extent of their impact. Lack of money affects students’ capacity to benefit from a university education and to progress to a good job. It’s not just these students who lose out – the whole country does.”

Anne-Marie Canning, MBE, CEO of The Brilliant Club said:

“This report ties together the access and student success agendas which need to work together in lockstep to ensure students from less-advantaged backgrounds can flourish at our universities. I hope the report will foster collaboration across sectors and organisations to better support first generation students in their higher education journeys.”

The Brilliant Club is the UK’s largest university access charity. It supports students aged 8-18 to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to progress to the country’s most competitive universities and succeed once there.