The HEPI/Advance HE Student Academic Experience Survey has now been running for 20 years, having started in 2005/2006. In that time it has grown in stature across the UK higher education sector, effectively documenting the progression of student academic experiences over multiple years and student cycles.
In many ways, the 2026 results of the Student Academic Experience Survey make encouraging reading. Perceptions of value for money are at their highest levels for more than a decade and are relatively strong among students from all parts of the UK, albeit with room for improvement in absolute terms. Alongside this, expectations are more likely to be exceeded or met than at any time in the same time period, and a clear majority of students are happy with their choice of course and institution, despite indications in the previous year’s Survey that pressures of paid employment may have been causing some to reassess their choice of higher education. We should note, however, that there are a number of degree apprenticeship students who would consider options outside higher education if they could choose again.
Despite the Survey’s long-standing and longitudinal nature, the 2026 results include many new areas of importance – for example, on the experience of students living in rural areas, the likelihood of being harassed while at a place of learning and the proportion of students who have changed their course or institution since first enrolling in higher education.
Find out more by downloading the full report of the results below.
