Higher Education Providers (HEPs) want to do the best they can for their students. From the best of motives, the student support landscape has become complicated through the addition of more and more options in the student support ‘menu’, prompted by years of guidance and good practice publications. As a consequence, students can find themselves not knowing where to go to get help and staff may not know how best to support them. Interventions may not be as effective, efficient and joined-up as they could be.
The Student Needs Framework aims to support higher education providers to re-think how they deliver student support by going ‘back to basics’ and considering how their student support offer meets the fundamental needs of students. It has been developed to act as a template for what a re-design could look like and assist HEPs in making decisions about where to start.
The design and delivery of student support is a major priority across the HE sector. While developing the Student Needs Framework, I heard about innovations and plans that will move us all forward on our journey to create more joined up and comprehensive student support ecosystems. I encourage colleagues to consider using the Framework as a collaborative tool to underpin progress and share good practice, to help all of our students succeed during their time in higher education. “
Professor Edward Peck CBE, Chair of the Board, Office for Students (OfS)
Student Needs Framework
The Student Needs Framework describes the fundamental needs of students. It provides a tool for higher education providers to consider how their current student support offer meets these needs, where there are gaps, overlaps and where better institutional connections are needed.
The Higher Education Student Support Champion working in partnership with the UUK Student Policy Network and Advance HE has designed a framework which provides a starting point for institutional conversations about re-designing student support and supports the mapping of current and future provision in regards to meeting student needs.
The Framework is designed to enable sector-wide dialogue and collaboration, encourage sharing of emerging and established good practice, and facilitate understanding of what works when delivering systematic change.
Aims of the Framework
The Student Needs Framework was developed as a template for HEPs use to re-think their student support from the perspective of core student ‘needs’; that is, the fundamental needs of students required to help them thrive in higher education.
The Student Needs Framework can be used as a tool to:
- Identify overlaps, gaps, and dependencies in the delivery of student support
- Start conversations within senior teams about what they are trying to achieve through the range of support they offer
- Map current interventions across universities
User guide for the Student Needs Framework
This guide outlines how institutions can adopt a systematic and strategic approach to mapping current support activities, conducting gap analyses and developing action plans to address students’ needs. It encourages senior and practitioner stakeholder engagement, cross-functional collaboration and flexibility to adapt the framework to specific institutional contexts.
Continuous improvement and reflective practices are emphasised to ensure sustainable student support, with regular review cycles and data-driven decision-making recommended for ongoing effectiveness.
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