Academic Transitions: Navigating University Life

BILT launched a longitudinal research study, in collaboration with the Student Inclusion Team, in February 2025 with several aims in mind:

  • To identify trends in experiences throughout an undergraduate university journey.
  • To identify if there were commonalities in moments throughout a student's journey they may need additional support and what that support may be.
  • To understand a longitudinal view of how students experience their academics, assessments, community, communication and transitions throughout their undergraduate degree.
  • To identify what created a student's 'sense of belonging' .

The project kicked off in February 2025 with a hackathon, allowing the 36 students to get to know each other and find out about their experiences so far. A summary of the day can be found here. If you'd like to see the full report from the first year of the study, please email bilt-info@bristol.ac.uk.

Following the first research event, we then met with the students in May/ June to catch up on how things had gone since: we discussed the difference in emotions towards exams, accommodation, community and discussed their feelings about moving into their second year. The participants also completed a journal entry, with the following three questions: 

  • How is everything going for you at Bristol? Think about: accommodation; friends; clubs; societies; academics (your course and assessments)
  • Who and what has been supporting you in your university experience so far? Are there any areas that are lacking? Think about both academic and pastoral support. 
  • Do you feel a part of the university community? If yes, what has helped you feel a part of it? If not, what could the university do to make you feel a part of it? Would you like Bristol to provide more community-building activities or would you prefer discovering them yourself?

In January 2026, the next set of focus groups were held and students completed the journals again, answering the same questions. We are currently analysing the transcripts and data collected and hope to publish an update in March 2026. 

Findings from the project to date have been shared at the May 2025 SEDA Conference and the September 2025 RAISE conference. You can listen to a podcast about the study here. 

If you have any questions, please get in touch with the principal researchers, Amy Palmer and Fiona Hartley.