Commuter students
This refers to students based on the distance or time they take to travel from their accommodation to their place of study.
There are multiple definitions of commuter students.
Most studies use a definition that is based on the distance or time taken for a student to travel from their accommodation to their place of study. However, the unit of time or distance varies.
Other studies define commuter students as those who have not moved from their pre-higher education home address.
Key statistics
Continuation – Progression:
The Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA’s) individualised learner record (ILR), The Student Return, collected by the Designated Data Body (DDB) and The Student Alternative (SA) record, collected by the Designated Data Body (DDB).
On a provider level:
UCAS provides information on the home postcode of a student at the point of application. This can then be cross-referenced to the address of the student on-course, where such data is collected by a provider. It can be matched to Individual Learner Records by a provider for internal database purposes.
On a national level:
The student characteristics data: Outcomes data dashboard has information on the profile, continuation, completion, attainment and progression rates by commuter status.
The National Student Survey data: student characteristics data has information on the experience of students by commuter status.
Note: Definitions and the quality of each study vary.
Maguire, D. and Morris, D. (2018). ‘Homeward Bound: Defining, understanding and aiding ‘commuter students’’, Higher Education Policy Institute Report 114.
Meehan, C. and Howells, K. (2018) ‘What really matters to freshers?: evaluation of first year student experience of transition into university’, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 42:7, pp. 893-907.
Meuleman, A., Garrett, R., Wrench, A. and King, S. (2015) ‘Some people might say I'm thriving but …: non-traditional students' experiences of university’, International Journal of Inclusive Education,1 (5), pp. 503-517.
Office for Students (2023) ‘A new approach to fair access, participation and success’. Accessed 05/12/2023)
Southall, J., Wason, H. and Avery, B. (2016) ‘Non-traditional, commuter students and their transition to Higher Education - a synthesis of recent literature to enhance understanding of their needs’, Student Engagement and Experience Journal, 5(1), pp. 2047-9476.
Describe your experience of using this website