At UCLan Students’ Union, we believe that the investment that students make in their education, both financially and mentally should be taken seriously, and that students should feel that they receive good value for money when it comes to their academic experience.

Your Vice President Education, Usman Kasaba said:

 ‘With the increased (and soon to be increasing) price of education, it is imperative that while students are at UCLan, they feel that they are getting their money’s worth. The past few years have been difficult for students and it is important we hear from students about how they feel about the quality of education they are receiving and what can be made better.’

What do we know?

We know that UCLan has a few different learning communities that come to university with different priorities, and that students invest in their education mentally, physically, socially and financially.

We also know that different students will prioritise aspects of their academic experience differently when it comes to value for money.

The University must consider value for money in its operation due to its obligations to the Office for Students. It has several considerations to make in its strategic plan; Students, Academic Quality, Staffing, Resourcing, Financial Sustainability and more.

Over the pandemic, students across UK universities struggled with finding good value for money.

‘just over a quarter (27%) of the 10,000 full-time undergraduate students studying in the UK who responded to the Survey felt that they have received ‘good or very good’ value, reversing the improving trend recorded between 2017 and 2019. Forty-four per cent of students report ‘poor or very poor’ value – a significant leap from the 29% of students with that perception in 2019, reflecting the major upheaval in their academic experience over the past year’ (Higher Education Policy Institute, 2021).

But there are some things we do not know…

Whilst we can guess based on past conversations what different learning communities consider good value for money; since the pandemic we don’t truly know what students consider good value for money when it comes to academic experience, both on a course and at UCLan overall.

They may be the same as they have always been, but the pandemic may have changed students’ perspectives.

We don’t know if the University fully understands what students consider ‘good value for money’ and since the pandemic, this is even more important as views differ and we need to keep up to date.

It’s time to re-educate ourselves and the University on what their students consider ‘good value for money’, but for us to be able to help you – you need to help us!

We need to know:

• How you would define good value for money when it comes to your education.
• What factors you consider a priority in your assessment of good value for money.
• Where you believe your investment in your education should be spent.
• How informed and prepared you were for the costs of being a student at university.
• How you want the University to inform you about their activities, so you can make an informed assessment about whether you have received value for money from your academic experience.
• Whether you believe you receive good value for money on your course and in your university academic experience.

How you can tell us:

• Tell us what you think in our Value for Money survey!
• Join other students in a focus group to discuss good value for money- sign up here!
• Meet up with a member of staff for a conversation about your journey and what good value money means to you in depth - sign up here!

What’s in it for you?

Well, apart from directly feeding into our work that will form strong recommendations to the University Vice Chancellors Group on what their students consider good value for money AND the cups of tea AND biscuits, we have another incentive to ‘sweeten’ the deal, which is…**drumroll please**….

Each focus group or one to one participant will receive a £10 gift voucher of their choice and by answering the survey, one very lucky student will win a £100 gift voucher for Amazon or another retailer of your choice!