How did COVID-19 affect business studies students?
COVID-19 reshaped delivery, assessment and support for business students, with the National Student Survey (NSS) showing the COVID-19 topic trending negative overall (68.6% Negative; index −24.0) and younger, full-time cohorts driving most of the volume (69.4% of comments). Within business studies across the sector’s Common Aggregation Hierarchy, overall tone remains broadly positive, yet COVID-specific references persist (≈2.4%) and lean negative (index ≈ −34.0). That pattern concentrates attention on assessment transparency, group work friction and remote learning, while reaffirming strengths in staff contact and student support.
The global health crisis fundamentally changed the landscape of higher education, pressing business studies students and providers to adapt in substantive ways. This post examines how the shift to online learning, interruptions to internships, financial strains and a shifting labour market collectively affected academic progress and career planning, and how programme teams use student voice to prioritise practical fixes.
How did online delivery change learning and assessment?
The sudden move online demanded rapid redesign of modules that rely on interaction, case work and team projects. Access to platforms and resources initially limited engagement for some, while the loss of informal classroom cues made workload pacing and expectations harder to judge. Staff introduced synchronous seminars for case analysis and asynchronous discussion to sustain participation. Remote learning remains slightly negative in student tone, and comments in business studies continue to ask for assessment clarity—especially around marking criteria, feedback timings and what good looks like. A disruption-ready playbook helps: a single source of truth for changes, annotated exemplars and checklist-style rubrics, and short weekly updates that map learning outcomes to criteria.
How did internships and work placements change?
Paused programmes, reduced places and virtual formats narrowed hands-on experience and networking. To compensate, departments and employers piloted modified internships built around live, remote projects. Where teams made deliverables explicit and set regular check-ins, students reported more meaningful learning. Borrowing structured rhythms from work-integrated routes (clear milestones, defined supervision, simple issues escalation) sustains engagement even when on-site access is limited.
What financial pressures did students face, and how did programmes respond?
Lost part-time income and sector uncertainty heightened anxiety about tuition, rent and living costs. Universities provided emergency funds and targeted bursaries; programme teams embedded financial planning and business resilience into modules to build practical capability. Careers and student services coordinated advice on part-time roles, internships and local opportunities, reducing duplication and speeding response.
How did the labour market reshape career prospects?
Hiring freezes in some sectors contrasted with growth in e-commerce, digital marketing and supply chains. Programmes emphasised digital fluency, data-informed decision making and project delivery in distributed teams. Interest in entrepreneurship rose, with students testing ventures aligned to pandemic-era demand. Providers widened access to enterprise mentoring and incubators so that students could evidence impact even when placements fell through.
What was the psychosocial impact, and what helped?
Isolation and uncertainty raised anxiety and affected study rhythms. Providers prioritised wellbeing through virtual counselling, peer support and short skills workshops on focus and workload. Regular micro-briefings from module leaders and explicit statements about disability-related adjustments reduced ambiguity and improved trust. Text analysis of student comments helped staff spot emerging issues and tune interventions by cohort.
Which innovations stuck?
Virtual networking events, online employer showcases and remote consultancy projects broadened access beyond campus and reduced travel barriers. Peer learning improved where teams used simple group contracts, interim milestones and calibrated peer assessment, which addressed recurring fairness concerns without heavy process. Libraries, digital resources and approachable teaching staff remained visible strengths; keeping named contact points and simple query routes preserved that advantage.
What should providers carry forward?
Students value stability, assessment transparency and accessible people support. Business studies programmes that publish exemplars, set credible feedback service levels, maintain a single communication channel and timetable owner, and design group work with light-touch accountability reduce friction and sustain positive tone. Capturing practices from disciplines that protected continuity and assessment clarity during disruption, then adapting them for business contexts, strengthens delivery for the next cohort.
How Student Voice Analytics helps you
- Track COVID-19 topic volume and sentiment over time, then drill from institution to school, programme, cohort and site.
- Compare like-for-like with Business Studies peers and by demographics (age, domicile, mode, commuter status), so you can target support where tone is lowest.
- Generate concise, anonymised summaries and exportable tables/figures for rapid briefing to programme, quality and student services teams.
- Surface assessment and delivery pain points (e.g., marking criteria, remote learning, group work) and evidence the impact of fixes across cohorts.
Book a Student Voice Analytics demo
See all-comment coverage, sector benchmarks, and governance packs designed for OfS quality and standards and NSS requirements.
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