South Devon College:

Outstanding student-centred, individualised support for college higher education students

This case study demonstrates how an integrated tutorial model of pre-entry support, personal and group tutorials and professional Student Support Hub services enables students to thrive in a college-based higher education provider. This approach was recognised as excellent by the TEF panel.

Like many college-based higher education providers, University Centre South Devon (UCSD) has a diverse student population and teaches higher education courses to predominately commuter students, with atypical pre-university educational experiences.

These higher education courses include:

• undergraduate professional qualifications
• certificates
• diplomas
• foundation degrees
• bachelors' top-up degrees
• higher and degree apprenticeships.

UCSD has created an outstanding learning environment for its students through various approaches including: academic support prior to course commencement and an integrated tutorial model. These support the students as they transition to higher education, at graduation and beyond.

South Devon College is a medium-sized further education college based in Torbay, an area with one of the lowest levels of young people entering higher education in England. The university centre seeks to meet the needs of the local population and employers by inspiring its community through learning. 90 per cent of students are part of at least one underrepresented group:

• more than two thirds of the student population are mature
• a quarter have a disability
• less than 10 per cent have previously studied A-levels
• 50 per cent typically live in postcode areas in the lower two quintiles of deprivation and participation in higher education
• over 50 per cent are first in their family to attend university
• approximately 40 per cent have caring responsibilities.

UCSD identified the barriers and challenges college-based higher education students face, including their past educational experiences, financial and personal obligations, disabilities and difficulties, and low levels of self-efficacy for learning and self-confidence as indicated by pre-entry student profile surveys.

The university centre aimed to ensure its students could succeed in their higher education by creating a supportive learning environment with readily available student-centred support. It aimed to complement this with course-level teaching, learning and assessment with outstanding student support to enable students to develop their higher-level academic skills, positive personal attributes and work-readiness.

UCSD sets out its approach to supporting students to achieve their potential in its ‘Higher Education Student Development’ and ‘Study and Wellbeing Review’ policies. The university centre’s theory of change focuses on addressing the barriers faced by its students, through an integrated tutorial model (Lochtie, McIntosh, Stork and Walker, 2018, p. 24) providing individualised support to undergraduate students.

During the pre-enrolment period, personal tutors and the Student Support Hub team engage with applicants, offering them the opportunity to discuss the course and any concerns. Applicants are encouraged to undertake the ‘Stepping Up to HE’ programme in the months before they enrol to actively engage in their learning. This consists of online guides for self-directed activity, face to face workshops, personalised welcomes to address any concerns, and an online induction to UCSD. Once they have enrolled, the online induction is a short course of academic, personal and work-readiness units to further prepare students for university life, study and career development.

Weekly group tutorials follow a tutorial curriculum designed to:

• scaffold students’ academic skills development
• model and practice respectful, positive personal attributes, attitudes and behaviours
• explore work-readiness knowledge, skills and behaviour, and progression opportunities.

The centrally created resources which are scheduled and differentiated to meet the needs of students at different stages of their programmes, are adapted and contextualised by tutors for their course. Personal tutors maintain general oversight of students’ welfare, meeting weekly in group tutorials and at least once a term one-to-one to review individual progress, as well as whenever students or tutors think it necessary.

The Student Support Hub team provide one-to-one and group support related to students’ studying and academic skills, their disabilities or wellbeing needs, and employability and progression opportunities. Each student has a named study skills partner who contacts them at least twice a semester to discuss their academic progress and to work with them one-to-one to develop their academic skills. Responses from the Student Support User Survey 2021-22 (UCSD, 2022) indicated that 78 per cent of respondents felt that the support from the team was ‘essential’ or ‘really useful’ in enabling them to continue with their studies.

Approximately 25 per cent of UCSD students have a disability, of which approximately 35 per cent have a mental health condition as their primary need. Others have mental health difficulties as a secondary need. Focused, individualised support with the Disabled Student Allowance process is also provided by the team within the hub.

Student voice is essential for monitoring and developing the learning environment and academic support for student success. Students report exceptionally high satisfaction with the academic support given, with 89.3 per cent responding positively in the National Student Survey results (6.3 percentage points above the benchmark for similar higher education provision). UCSD continues to monitor student feedback and to develop its approach with students as partners in its design.

The UCSD integrated tutorial model was relaunched in 2019-20 emphasising the centrality of the personal tutor, group tutorials following a standardised scaffolded curriculum, and professional support from the Student Support Hub. It was pivotal to students’ ability to continue with their studies during coronavirus campus closures. Hallam (2022) found a statistical association between students having a weekly group tutorial and withdrawal contemplation, with those who did not always have a weekly group tutorial significantly more likely to contemplate withdrawing.

The TEF panel found evidence from the student submission, provider submission and TEF indicators that the UCSD learning environment and academic support is outstanding. It highlights how the ‘Stepping up to HE’ programme prepares applicants, the tutorial model builds personal, academic, and professional educational gain, and Student Support Hub, including the Study Skills, Wellbeing, Disability and Employability teams, provide services tailored to individual needs.

The TEF process enabled UCSD to recognise its varied activities for maximising the learning environment and academic support. The characteristics it fosters in its students of higher-level academic skills, positive personal attributes and work-readiness are now articulated as those of a South Devon Graduate, a concept that students are fully embracing. The next step for UCSD is to continue to refine its evaluation methodology to determine what elements of support are the key to success.