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Higher Education blogs

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 for the 2024/25 academic year.

Innovations and inspiration for 2024/25

In our latest podcast episode, we look at new initiatives to improve students' university experience in their accommodation for 2024/25.

Interview: Learning, development and belonging at Unite Students

We caught up with Jenni Brooks about how learning, development and belonging helps our teams to deliver a great student experience.

Living Black at University Conference: Engaging with Equity

Led by Unite Students in partnership with CUBO (College and University Business Officers), the Living Black at University Commission is hosting its second conference in Canterbury on Tuesday 8th October. Here’s what you need to know.

Elevating student support and resident experience for 24/25

Student needs are constantly evolving. Here’s how we’re improving our student support and resident experience offer for 2024/25.

A Day in the Life of… our Customer Communications team

Whether it’s giving our residents the information they need before they arrive or sharing updates throughout their time living with Unite Students, our Customer Communications function plays a vital role in keeping students informed and engaged.

The Student Accommodation Podcast Summit

Accommodation Matters host Jenny Shaw recently collaborated with experts from across the Higher Education sector to bring together a very special podcast episode.

What we know about 2024’s university applicants

Every year, Unite Students surveys university applicants for our Applicant Index. And every year, we’re surprised by the differences between applicant cohorts. If you want to be prepared for the first year students who will arrive into your city in the autumn, you won’t want to miss this episode – or the report that spawned it.

7 things you need to know about 2024’s university applicants

The Unite Students Applicant Index is the only research that tracks university applicants’ attitudes and confidence levels year on year, giving you the information you need to prepare for their arrival in autumn. The 2024 report is out now. So, here’s everything you need to know about the Applicant Index - and seven things you’ll want to know about this year’s incoming student cohort.

Applicant Index 2024: Joe Lister’s foreword

Joe Lister, Unite Students’ Chief Executive, shares his thoughts on our 2024 Applicant Index report – and how he’s seen some of the findings play out within his own family.

Student drug use: What accommodation teams need to know

Jenny Shaw looks at Universities UK's recent drugs guidance for Higher Education, and what student accommodation teams should know about it.

Interview: Meet Jay Khan, Head of Operations for London

New to the sector but with a wealth of experience in operations, Jay Khan - our new Head of Operations for London - talks us through his first impressions of the Higher Education sector, how his past experience has brought him to purpose-built student accommodation and how he plans to create a culture of excellence in our buildings.

What the 2024 UK General Election means for student accommodation

Political decisions can reshape the whole Higher Education landscape. So we enlisted an expert panel and host Jenny Shaw to tell us exactly what the 2024 UK General Election might mean for Higher Education, students and student accommodation in a special General Election podcast episode.

3 things we learned from the HEPI Annual Conference

Last week, Jenny Shaw (HE External Engagement Director) was out and about at sector conferences including HEPI’s Annual Conference, with its focus on the forthcoming General Election. If you couldn’t make it to the event, here are Jenny’s three event takeaways for student accommodation.

Meet Will White – Unite Students’ new Higher Education Engagement Director

Partnered with more than 60 universities across the UK, Unite Students prides itself on strong relationships with the Higher Education sector. So, we’re delighted to introduce Will White as our new Higher Education Engagement Director. Here, Will shares why he took the role after five years working as a Head of Operations, his priorities for 2024 and his experience of how Higher Education policy challenges play out for students on the ground.

Transition to university: A Sixth Form Director’s perspective

Schools and sixth form colleges play an important role in helping students to have a smooth transition to university. In our latest report, Improving the Transition to University, representatives from secondary education spoke about how school data and support plans could be better used to support vulnerable students at university.  Wayne Templeman, Director of Sixth Form at St Bonaventure’s, London, shares his reflections on the transition to university, the connection between schools and students, and what schools and colleges want to see in improving the university transition. 

Interview: How do you create a great student experience?

We spoke to Serena Ferris, Resident Experience Programmes Manager, about what it takes to create a great student experience in accommodation.

A Day in the Life of… a Regional Student Support Officer

All of our front line teams have a role to play in supporting our residents – but when they need help with more complex cases, they can turn to our regional Student Support teams.  We spoke to Martin McKendley, Regional Student Support Officer for London, about what a typical day looks like in his role, how he works with our teams and university partners to support students, and his favourite thing about working at Unite Students. 

Emerging trends in student mental health

More and more students are seeking support for their mental health, and in response, we’ve seen a whole host of new initiatives to better meet that need. But what are these initiatives, where have they come from and what do student accommodation teams need to know? We’re getting into it in this month’s episode of Accommodation Matters. 

Improving the Transition to Higher Education report: 4 things we learned

Our latest report ‘Improving the Transition to Higher Education’ is a joint initiative between Unite Students and the Higher Education Student Support Champion, Professor Edward Peck. Based on a series of expert roundtables and individual interviews, together with desk research and sector case studies, it draws together key challenges and recommendations for schools, colleges and universities. Co-author Jenny Shaw takes a look at some of the implications for student accommodation.

A Day in the Life of… our Birmingham South city team

We’re proud of all our city teams and how they deliver a great student experience – but in 2023, it was our Birmingham South team who scooped our internal Teamwork award. We spoke to Mitchell Fellows (General Manager), Dan Ruscoe (Student Experience Manager) and Nardi Kinson (Student Experience Team Leader) to find out how they work together, what makes them an award-winning team and what they love about working in the Birmingham South team.

Living Black at University: Our new partnership with CUBO

We are delighted to announce that the next stage of the Living Black at University Commission will be jointly led by Unite Students and CUBO (College and University Business Officers), as we look to continue the Commission’s work on supporting equity, inclusion and belonging in student accommodation and beyond.

How can we solve the student accommodation supply problem?

In our latest episode of Accommodation Matters, we get to grips with the student accommodation supply/demand problem - and how we can solve it.

What’s next for our Resident Ambassador programme?

By students, for students - our Resident Ambassador programme helps students to build a community in our buildings while being paid for their time and effort. Heather Hunter, Resident Experience Programmes Officer, shares how we enhanced the scheme for this academic year, some of the events our Ambassadors have run across the UK this year, and how we’re tweaking the programme for 2024/25 to make it even better.

Our new sustainability report: How Unite Students is making a positive impact

At Unite Students, we talk a lot about sustainability. But what do our actions mean in a wider context, what are we aiming for, and what have we achieved so far? We’ve laid it all out in our first annual sustainability report – available to download now.

What our Student Assistance Programme offers students

As the first purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) provider to offer a student support service, Unite Students is constantly looking to evolve its student wellbeing offer. New for 2023/24, our Student Assistance Programme bolsters our provision of round-the-clock support. Here, we outline what the programme includes, how it has benefited our residents, and what we’ve learned since launch.

How can Higher Education end student loneliness?

The 2023 Student Academic Experience Survey showed that 1 in 4 students feels lonely most or all of the time – and that number is growing. With loneliness carrying the same health risks as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and having a substantial impact on mental health, academic performance and student retention, this month we’re asking: how can Higher Education end student loneliness?

Interview: Putting student safety first at Unite Students

Student safety is of the utmost importance at Unite Students. Our Birmingham North team’s focus on safety was recognised at our Stars Awards in November, picking up three awards. We caught up with Davinder Sanghera, General Manager, and Dean Ditta, Student Safety Manager (Nights), about their award-winning safety approach. 

Meet our Regional Student Support Managers

Our three Regional Student Support Managers advise our frontline teams on complex support cases, work with university partners to provide a joined-up support process for students and help to develop our staff training. For University Mental Health Day, we spoke to Ami-Rose, Luke and Jenny to find out how they got into student support, what they want to achieve in 2024, and what issues they think need more focus in student support.

What student accommodation teams should know about Chinese culture

Bernadette Cochonat, Head of International Sales and Partnerships at Unite Students, first developed a Chinese cultural awareness workshop for our teams in 2017 – since then, she’s run more than 100 sessions. Here, she tells us about her workshops: why she created them, some of the insights she shares with our teams, and what’s next for the programme.

Interview: Meet Lettie and Vic – our new Heads of Operations

Living with us as students, working their way up through our operations teams and with experience in our central support functions - Lettie Hubbuck and Vic Simmons are the perfect ambassadors for Unite Students. With Lettie and Vic having recently been promoted to Heads of Operations across our Scotland & the North and South & Central regions respectively, we caught up with them to find out what their core principles are for student accommodation.

What the Building Safety Act means for student accommodation

The eighth season of Accommodation Matters is here - and this time, we're talking everything to do with the Building Safety Act and how it intersects with student accommodation.

How accommodation teams can support national work on student mental health

Jenny Shaw (HE External Engagement Director at Unite Students) gives an overview of the work of the Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce, five actions for student accommodation teams and how you can submit your own good practice to inform the Taskforce’s work.

A Day in the Life of… a Housekeeping Team

Our housekeeping teams do much more than just keeping our buildings spick and span – they’re a trusted, supportive presence for our residents and play an important role in picking up student wellbeing concerns. We caught up with Margaret Graham (Housekeeping Team Leader), Liz Park and Radi Dimitrova (Housekeeping Team Members) from our experienced Glasgow housekeeping team to hear about a typical day in their role, how their role supports the student experience, and the importance of teamwork.

How our community projects are creating a positive impact

Sustainability at Unite Students isn’t just about reducing carbon – it’s also about having a positive impact on local communities. Through our Positive Impact programme, many of our teams have set up community projects to give back to their local area.  We’ve showcased four projects, and shared how our teams have worked with students, organisations and universities to create a positive social impact. 

Interview: Using data to deliver a better student experience

“Data is becoming more and more important in the future of any business,” says Kim Nisbett, Head of Insight at Unite Students. We caught up with Kim about her award-winning Insight and Analytics team, how they use data to help teams make informed, long-term decisions, and how our student panel challenges assumptions about what students want.

A Day in the Life of… a Facilities Manager at Unite Students

Our Facilities teams are the unsung heroes that keep everything working in our properties – but what does that look like from day to day? We spoke to Andy Hayes, Facilities Manager for Liverpool North, about what a typical day looks like in his role, how his team works together to fix issues on-site, and how his teams support the student experience in our buildings.

Interview: The changing landscape of international students

Bernadette Cochonat, Head of International Sales and Partnerships at Unite Students, has a wealth of experience in the international student space. We caught up with her about her own experiences, what she’s seeing in the sector right now, and what the future will bring in terms of international students’ needs and concerns.

The future of social impact in Higher Education

How can student accommodation give back to local communities? We look at the future of social impact in Higher Education and PBSA.

University Mental Health Charter: 6 questions you should ask your accommodation providers

Working towards the University Mental Health Charter? Here are (at least) six questions universities should ask their private purpose-built student accommodation partners.

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