More than just a day: Unite Students’ 2024/25 Welcome programme

Driven by our research and student insight, we’ve prepared our best student welcome programme yet. 

Arriving at university – or even just into a new home for the year – can be a formative event for a student, equal parts exciting and daunting. So universities and accommodation providers have often focused on perfecting those very first encounters: a stress-free check-in experience, followed by the social opportunities of Fresher’s Week. 

But our recent Transition into Higher Education report recommended that universities and accommodation providers have a longer, dedicated welcome period to help new students settle into their university experience. In this year’s Applicant Index, 79% of this year’s applicants said they wanted to be an active part of the student community at university, but just under half (49%) were worried about not fitting in. 

So we’ve joined up our focus on delivering a seamless check-in experience with our Resident Ambassador and events programme to put together a six-week welcome programme, creating more opportunities for our residents to make friends and become part of the community. 

Preparing for the new year 

Although we’re focused on the first six weeks of term, we’ve been laying the groundwork for the welcome all summer. 

Preparing 70,000 rooms can be a long slog for our teams, so to keep the focus on why we’re doing it, we put student voice at the heart of our operations this summer. Our summer interns and industrial placement students shared their experiences of welcome through a series of blogs called ‘A Student’s Guide to Welcome’, which kept student needs at the forefront of our summer preparations. 

We’ve also prepared our residents for arrival. Our pre-arrival emails are tailored give residents the most relevant information for them well in advance of arrival. They’ve also had the opportunity to share what reasonable adjustments would help them to settle in and thrive in their new home thanks to the pre-arrival disclosure form, which we developed in response to the recommendations in our ‘Meeting the needs of neurodivergent students’ report. 

Finally, our new student app has a homepage that’s tailored to where a resident is in their student journey. Pre-arrival, that means residents are signposted to our digital check-in process and are shown content that will assuage any pre-move worries. For example, we know that packing can be a source of anxiety – so the homepage highlights our partnership with UniKitOut, who create kits of essentials that students will need as they live independently for the first time. 

There’s also a ‘property community’ feature which allows residents from the same building to get to know each other in advance and makes it easy for our teams to share updates and information, building community before residents have even arrived. 

Making first impressions count 

The welcome programme may run for six weeks – but we know that a great arrival sets the tone for the rest of a resident’s stay. 

Our CARE customer service principles are put into practice from the moment a resident arrives. ‘In your name’ stresses the importance of using a student’s name to connect with them, while we’re creating moments of surprise and delight (‘The little things’) by giving new arrivals a gift, no matter what time or day they’ve arrived. 

We know this approach works. Last year, the five cities where everyone had completed the CARE training showed the highest rate of student satisfaction. 

Six weeks of welcome

So what does the rest of our six-week welcome programme look like? After arrival, our teams work with our Resident Ambassadors – who are already recruited and inducted by the start of term – to put on relevant, fun events based on the interests of residents in their building, complementing universities’ own events programme. It’s perhaps no surprise that satisfaction is also higher in buildings that have Resident Ambassadors! 

The welcome period can be tough for some as they adapt to living in a new city, away from their support networks. So, our student experience teams also conduct flat chats throughout the Welcome programme to check in on everyone, particularly neurodivergent residents to make sure they’re settling in well. Proactive student support and an inclusive approach are at the heart of how we approach resident experience. 

These first six weeks are so important to giving residents a home for success, and the preparations are almost over. We can’t wait to welcome our new residents. 

Read more about how we’re elevating resident experience for 2024/25, and listen to our ‘Innovations and Inspiration for 2024/25’ podcast below: