Higher Education blogs

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.

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.

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. 

“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.

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.

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.

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

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

Hot off the launch of the new Living Black at University Commission report, we’re continuing our focus on the future of sustainability within purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) with this month’s episode on race and inclusion in student accommodation.

Jen Steadman, Commissioning Editor of the new 2022/23 Living Black at University Commission report, explains why there’s a new Living Black at University report, what it covers and what’s next for the Commission.

Last week, Unite Students went to the Festival of Higher Education (7-8 November) to hear what’s on the HE sector’s mind right now. We picked up on five key themes from the conference – here’s what was shared, and what those themes might mean for purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). 

Nicholas Pigula, Sustainable Construction Manager, shares how Unite Students builds sustainable student accommodation - and our next steps for becoming a net-zero carbon organisation.

From living with us to listening to our current residents - Contact Centre Manager Alice Bone has seen it from both sides at Unite Students. In Alice’s own words, the contact centre is a place of innovation and rich data that "tells the story of the students that live with us." Read on to find out what role the contact centre plays in student wellbeing, how the data helps us create a better living experience for our residents, and what trends Alice has seen in her nine years in the contact centre.

A key finding from last year’s Living Black at University report was that a lack of culturally relevant services in many UK cities contributed towards many Black students feeling like they didn’t belong at university. As part of the Unite Students Commission on Living Black at University, we wanted to take action so that Black students could more easily acclimatise to university life. Here’s how we co-created a brand new resource to support Black students moving away from home for the first time.

Environmental sustainability is ever-more important within the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector - but how can we get to net-zero in operations and development, and what does the future hold? Our expert panel explores some of the challenges and solutions.

Partnered with more than 60 universities across England, Scotland and Wales, Unite Students is committed to strong, mutually beneficial university relationships.  We spoke to Simon Jones, University Partnerships Director at Unite Students, about what he’s learned from his time overseeing our national operations, the importance of understanding the student lifecycle, and the key to great university relationships.

Our Day in the Life interview series is back, shining a spotlight on our frontline employees and the fantastic work they do to help students thrive in our buildings. This time, we spoke to Henriett ‘Hena’ Olah-Nagy, Student Experience Team Leader at Cambrian Point, Cardiff to find out what a typical day looks like in her role, some of the events she’s supported students with, and how her own experiences of moving to the UK have helped her to support international students as they settle into life in the UK.

In June 2022, Unite Students launched a three-year Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging (DEIB) and Wellbeing strategy. More than a year on, we outline the progress we’ve made against the strategy, and some of the ways in which we’ve embedded diversity, inclusion and belonging into Unite Students for the benefit of both students and employees.

Purpose-built student accommodation isn’t just a building – it’s about being a positive and engaged part of a local community. We spoke to Ivy Yarrow, Social Impact Manager at Unite Students, for a deeper dive into what social impact looks like at Unite Students and the benefits it provides for our employees, students, university partners, charities and local communities.

Arriving in student accommodation for the first time can be exciting – but also daunting. Jo Blair, Head of Quality and Standards at Unite Students, shares how a revamp of our customer service ‘CARE’ principles will help students to feel more welcome within our buildings during the 2023/24 academic year.

With a new academic year rapidly approaching, we wanted to know what new and exciting initiatives are being rolled out to enhance the student experience in purpose-built student accommodation around the UK – so we asked our Accommodation Matters listeners to submit their own contributions about what they’re doing differently for the 2023/24 academic year.

Lottie Randomly, Leapskills Consultant at Unite Students, shares additional research we’ve undertaken with school teachers to understand the needs of the current cohort, and how the findings from both this and the Index highlight the need to prepare young people for independent living at university.

Over the last year, Unite Students has trialled Support to Stay – an innovative student support framework designed to align with university processes. Here, we delve into what Support to Stay is, what came out of the trial phase, and what it means for the full Support to Stay roll-out in the 2023/24 academic year.

Our latest research findings suggested that this year’s university applicants are less likely to make sacrifices to live sustainably than last year’s cohort. We explore some of the reasons why sustainability may be a challenge area for students and applicants - and whether student behaviour really does matter in creating more sustainable student accommodation.

The class of 2023 will soon be arriving at universities up and down the UK - and our recent Applicant Index report highlights some of their needs and concerns. Now, an expert panel discusses the research findings and explores how we can support this year's new students to flourish at university.

Delving into university applicants’ attitudes, needs and confidence in comparison to last year’s cohort, Unite Students’ 2023 Applicant Index is now available to download. From sustainability and finances to wellbeing and independence, here are some of the key takeaways from this year’s report.

In his foreword for Unite Students’ 2023 Applicant Index report, Richard Smith - Chief Executive at Unite Students - shares his thoughts on our findings about this year’s cohort of university applicants, and what they mean for the Higher Education sector.

Last year’s cost of living episode of Accommodation Matters proved to be the most popular yet – but more than a year on, how has the cost of living crisis moved on, and what does the cost of living picture look like for students in 2023?

Since she joined Unite Students in 2012, Jenny Shaw (HE External Engagement Director) has been a driving force behind our research programme, the introduction of our student support provision, and initial launch of the Unite Foundation, among other things. We caught up with Jenny about her passion for inclusion, her role in making student support a focus within purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), and the next big research topic for Higher Education.

The Unite Students Commission on Living Black at University is delighted to share a series of resources to support the wider Higher Education sector in achieving race equity and creating a more welcoming university community for Black students.

International students are a substantial part of the UK's student population, but how do their mental health needs differ from those of home students?

One of the starkest findings from the Living Black at University report was the mental health challenge faced by Black students in UK student accommodation. Guest contributor Melissa Browne, Deputy Director of Commercial Services and Estates at University of Kent and Vice Chair of CUBO (College and University Business Officers), has seen the impact first-hand in her family – now, she shares her advice for parents of Black students on how to support them during their university experience.

Following on from our latest Accommodation Matters episode ‘What does 1 million applicants mean for student accommodation?’, we now share Jenny Shaw’s full interview with Ben Jordan, Head of Policy at UCAS, about the UCAS ‘Journey To A Million’ essay series – sponsored by Unite Students and Knight Frank.

What’s it like to work nights in the Unite Students safety team? We spoke to Dave Booth, Student Safety Manager (Nights) in Durham, about what his role looks like, its importance in providing a great student experience 24/7, and how he’s been an ally to LGBTQ+ students.

Unite Students introduced its Resident Ambassador scheme in 2016, providing valuable peer-to-peer support in our buildings as well as a work and development opportunity for the students who live with us. With recruitment underway for the next academic year, we spoke to Izzy Pemberton, a first-year student at Manchester Metropolitan University, who has been a Resident Ambassador at New Medlock House since October 2022.

Ahead of the release of Unite Students’ Journey To A Million essay, co-authored with Knight Frank, a panel of sector experts looks at what a million applicants means for student accommodation - covering supply and demand, research into the student experience, and what accommodation for the next generation of students looks like.

As predicted by the government’s 2019 international student strategy, the number of Indian students studying in the UK has grown significantly in the past few years. Bernadette Cochonat, Head of International Sales at Unite Students, shares what trends have been identified within this student population, and how that shapes their accommodation needs.

An expert sector panel discusses Unite Students' new report on neurodivergent students' university experience and what universities and accommodation providers can do to better meet their needs.

Unite Students has today published ‘An asset, not a problem: Meeting the needs of neurodivergent students’, a report on the experiences of students who are autistic and/or have ADHD, created in collaboration with students from Bristol University Neurodiversity Society (BUNS). Here are some top-line findings about their accommodation and university experience.

What actions did our delegates take away from the Living Black at University Conference to create a more equitable living environment for Black students? Here are six key takeaways from the day.