Rethinking the student academic experience for a digital era

“This blog was kindly authored by Mark Jones, Executive Vice President – Education, TechnologyOne. Today’s students expect interactions with their university that mirror the digital services they use every day in their personal lives. Whether it’s checking their timetable, accessing course materials, receiving feedback or communicating with support services, students increasingly expect real-time information, mobile access, personalised communication and self-service options. Universities that fail to meet this risk face disengagement, dissatisfaction, and ultimately, retention challenges. On 11 May 2026, there will be a special twentieth-anniversary edition of the HEPI / Advance HE Student Academic Experience Survey (SAES) published by HEPI with support from TechnologyOne. What Matters Most? 20 Years of the Student Experience , authored by Dr Gosia Turner, Head of Surveys at Jisc, draws on insights collected over the past 20 years from over 200,000 UK students. Four key enduring themes are: perceived value for money; satisfaction with the academic experience; experience versus expectations; and attendance levels. Register to access What Matters Most? 20 Years of The Student Experience This anniversary report offers a longitudinal view, showing how expectations have shifted over time, how digital platforms have reshaped interactions, and what universities can do to keep pace with students’ evolving needs. On launch day, there will be a webinar where the author and leading sector figures, including Nicola Dandridge (ex-CEO at the Office for Students), David Green (Vice Chancellor at the University of Worcester) and Libby Sinclair (President, Nottingham Trent Students’ Union), will discuss the results – all chaired by HEPI’s President, Bahram Bekhradnia, who first established the survey back in 2006. You can book a place here . The students entering higher education today are digital natives. They are accustomed to platforms where information is instant, services are personalised and interfaces are intuitive. When they encounter universities where processes are fragmented, data is siloed and services are slow, the contrast is stark. Real-time updates on course schedules, automated notifications, accessible and timely feedback and clear guidance are no longer nice-to-have features but are fundamental to delivering a high-quality student experience. The Report highlights how these digital expectations have grown over the past decade. The shift has been shaped by a range of macro factors, including the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising tuition fees, increased focus on student wellbeing and ongoing cost-of-living pressures. Together, these forces have heightened students’ expectations of value, flexibility, and support, while accelerating reliance on digital services. As a result, students now expect their university interactions to be as responsive and personalised as those they experience outside campus. They value institutions that understand them as individuals, anticipate their needs and provide clear, actionable information at every stage of the student lifecycle. When universities excel in these areas, they build trust and engagement, which in turn supports recruitment, retention, and overall institutional reputation. Technology plays a central role in meeting these expectations. Modern Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions allow universities to unify data, streamline processes and provide staff and students with a ‘single source of truth’. By connecting academic and administrative systems, universities can offer timely, accurate and personalised interactions. Enrolment, course management, assessment feedback and administrative tasks can be integrated into a seamless experience, freeing staff to focus on strategic priorities and enabling students to engage more fully in their learning journey. This convergence of technology and student experience has implications for institutional leadership. Universities face increasing pressure to differentiate themselves in a competitive market, particularly as the UK experiences a declining pool of prospective students (after 2030) and alternative post-18 pathways grow in appeal.Attracting and retaining students now require a sophisticated approach that blends academic excellence with intuitive, digitally-enabled support. Leaders must consider how technology investments underpin the student experience, not simply how they improve operational efficiency. Looking ahead, the role of technology in the student experience will only continue to expand. Advances in artificial intelligence and analytics will provide universities with more sophisticated tools to understand student behaviours, personalise learning pathways and optimise institutional processes. By understanding these trends and adopting technology that supports the entire student journey, universities can create meaningful, future-ready experiences that engage students, support staff, and strengthen institutional performance. Explore the full findings in the SAES Anniversary Report and discover how universities can meet the digital expectations of today’s students by visiting our dedicated page and registering to access the report as soon as it is out: Register to access What Matters Most? 20 Years of The Student Experience here and book a place to attend the launch webinar here. The post Rethinking the student academic experience for a digital era appeared first on HEPI .

Summary generated from the RSS feed of HEPI Blog. All article rights belong to the original publisher. Click through to read the full piece on www.hepi.ac.uk.