By Katie Cronin
Spend any time in higher education and it won’t be long before you hear someone talk about “student experience.” It has become one of those phrases, spoken frequently, with good intent, but not always followed by clarity or actionable change. And yet, at its core, it is a genuinely important issue. How students feel about their time at university, academically, socially, and emotionally, has an impact not just on satisfaction scores or league tables, but on learning, personal development, and ultimately, professional preparedness.
Still, enhancing that experience? It’s not straightforward. In fact, it is remarkably difficult. And in the context of sport, coaching, and professional practice, where the boundaries between academic and applied learning often blur, it becomes even more complex.
Here are some of the key challenges we face, not as a critique, but as a reflective exercise in what makes this so complicated.
Understanding “Student Experience” Is No Easy Task
The first hurdle is definitional. What is the student experience, exactly? Is it the quality of lectures? The support systems in place? Is it how connected students feel to their peers and staff? The honest answer is, it’s all of that, and more. Different students will define ‘experience’ in different ways. For some, it’s about academic challenge. For others, it’s about feeling seen, valued, or simply getting the right email reply at the right time.
In professional practice settings, this complexity is amplified. Students are not just absorbing knowledge; they’re preparing for real-world environments, often ones that are messy, dynamic, and unpredictable. They need theory, yes, but also reflection, mentorship, and exposure to practice.
The Myth of the “Typical Student”
Another challenge is that we often design systems for a “typical student”, who, truth be told, may not exist anymore, if at all. Our cohorts now are diverse in the truest sense: culturally, socioeconomically, and in terms of life experience. Some are school-leavers, others returning to education after a career. Some are managing caregiving responsibilities, others are elite athletes or part-time workers.
This diversity should be a strength, and often is, but it makes one-size-fits-all approaches increasingly inadequate. Tailoring the experience to meet individual needs without fragmenting the whole is one of the trickiest balancing acts we face.
Wellbeing Is not a Bolt-On
One of the areas where change is most needed is around student wellbeing. There’s growing awareness that mental health and stress are major issues in higher education, and the world of sport is certainly not exempt. In fact, the pressure to perform both academically and professionally can be particularly intense in our domain.
But wellbeing isn’t something we can outsource to a support service alone. It has to be woven into curriculum design, feedback structures, even our own interactions as educators and mentors. The challenge is embedding that without diluting academic standards or undermining resilience. It’s a nuanced task, akin to coaching rather than a transactional process.
The Digital Elephant in the Room
Post-pandemic, we’ve all become more digitally agile. But digital doesn’t always mean better. Many students now expect seamless tech delivery—but also want meaningful connection. Hybrid teaching, recorded content, and online resources have huge value, but they must not replace the relational aspects of learning. That is particularly true in sport and professional practice, where conversation, observation, and interaction often drive the deepest learning.
It is a question worth asking: how do we create learning environments that are both digitally rich and person-centred?
Institutional Culture Matters More Than We Think
Perhaps the most important and overlooked challenge lies in the culture of the institution itself. Improving student experience isn’t just a matter of services or strategies—it’s about values. Do students feel heard? Do they feel staff care? Do they have a sense of belonging? These things are hard to measure, but it is often more apparent if it’s missing
And crucially, improving culture isn’t quick. It requires trust, consistency, and a shared commitment across all levels—from academic staff to professional services to leadership and of course the student body. When it works, though, it can transform everything.
So Where Does That Leave Us?
The point here isn’t to suggest that universities, or the people within them, aren’t doing their best. In my experience within the GSSPP, they care deeply. But caring doesn’t always translate easily into meaningful, scalable change.
What we need is reflection, dialogue, and a willingness to experiment. Perhaps most of all, we need to treat the student experience not as a project to be completed, but as a relationship to be nurtured, one that evolves over time.
In sport, we often talk about marginal gains, the small things that add up to meaningful change. Maybe improving student experience is the same. It’s not about finding a silver bullet. It’s about small shifts, well-executed, rooted in care and curiosity.
Let’s keep asking the hard questions. That’s how progress happens.
K.Cronin@bham.ac.uk