What student support most improves business and management education?
Targeted, responsive staff support, fast resolution of issues, and joined‑up wellbeing provision yield the biggest gains for business and management students. Across the National Student Survey (NSS) open‑text corpus on student support, 68.6% of 23,254 comments are positive, with mature learners (index 39.8) more positive than young cohorts (30.0). Using the Common Aggregation Hierarchy used to benchmark by subject, the picture for business and management (non‑specific) shows student support as a net positive theme (sentiment index +20.6). The task now is to protect quick, human responses while tightening assessment clarity and the consistency of personal tutoring.
Institutions increasingly prioritise holistic support that integrates academic advice with wellbeing and practical help. Student voice, gathered through surveys and text analysis, guides where to invest. In the wider sector, the student support theme in the NSS captures how services help students navigate their studies, while the business and management (non‑specific) grouping locates this experience within a commonly used UK subject classification for benchmarking. Students respond when their feedback leads to visible changes, and when support is easy to find, timely, and followed through to resolution.
What do students value most in support?
Students most often credit proactive tutors who act quickly and resolve issues. Prompt, human responses reduce anxiety and sustain momentum on modules. Clear communications on platforms such as Canvas make assessment briefs, marking criteria and resources easy to navigate. Adaptable teaching that recognises different learning styles strengthens engagement and inclusion. Protecting these practices matters: keep response times short, maintain named ownership until issues are closed, and make support routes and timeframes explicit.
Where do students still encounter support gaps?
Uneven experience persists. Some students feel under‑supported in balancing workload and wellbeing, and disabled students report less consistent access to adjustments. Engagement dips in online phases when interaction feels sparse. Clarity on assessment remains a pressure point: students ask for precise criteria, exemplars and timely, actionable feedback, and they notice inconsistency across markers. Group work can frustrate when roles, contribution tracking and expectations are ambiguous. Personal tutoring is valued but experienced unevenly, so visibility and reliability vary by cohort.
What do international students need to settle and succeed?
International students navigate additional hurdles around culture, academic conventions, finance and visas. They benefit from orientation that demystifies academic norms, multi‑language signposting, and opportunities to connect with domestic peers. A single “front door” for advice, clear next steps, and predictable response times reduce uncertainty. Staff development on intercultural advising and inclusive pedagogy helps programmes integrate diverse perspectives into classroom discussion and assessment design.
How should we improve extenuating circumstances policies?
Simplify and humanise the route to support. Rapid triage with next‑business‑day acknowledgement and named case ownership reduces stress. Standardise accessible communications, state timeframes, and provide proactive updates until resolution. Train staff to apply policy with discretion and empathy, recognising varied circumstances. Review criteria and processes with students, and track time‑to‑resolution and reasons for delay; a short monthly summary helps sustain accountability and trust.
How can content and methods reinforce support?
Connect theory to practice through case work, simulations and industry input so students can test understanding and build confidence. To remove friction at assessment, publish annotated exemplars, checklist‑style rubrics and “how to improve” notes aligned to criteria, and calibrate markers so expectations are consistent. Use student feedback to iterate teaching methods and assessment design, ensuring that delivery supports learning for the full cohort.
How should online learning and communication work?
Interactivity sustains engagement: short live polls, structured discussions and collaborative tasks recreate the energy of in‑person teaching. Communication needs a single source of truth, predictable update rhythms, and core information in one place. Regular pulse checks on the virtual experience allow teams to respond quickly, closing the loop when changes are made so students see that feedback leads to action.
What support best builds personal and professional development?
Students value practical development that complements the curriculum: writing, presentations, critical analysis, digital fluency and career readiness. Embed these through workshops tied to modules and assessment briefs, and co‑design topics with students to match aspirations. Ensure personal tutor practices are consistent and visible so all students can access guidance on progression, options and wellbeing.
How Student Voice Analytics helps you
Student Voice Analytics tracks this theme’s volume and sentiment over time, with drill‑downs from provider to school, programme and module. You can compare like‑for‑like across subject groupings and demographics, segment by cohort or site, and surface the topics that most influence experience in business and management. Export concise, anonymised summaries and tables to brief programme teams and services without additional analysis overhead, and evidence change by linking actions to shifts in sentiment.
Book a Student Voice Analytics demo
See all-comment coverage, sector benchmarks, and governance packs designed for OfS quality and standards and NSS requirements.
More posts on student support:
- Does student support meet the needs of mental health nursing students?
- Are UK universities providing the academic support art students need?
- What support do social work students in UK universities need most?
- What support do mechanical engineering students need most?
More posts on business and management (non-specific) student views:
- How can feedback be improved in business and management studies?
- What do NSS comments tell us about teaching staff in business and management?
- What learning resources do business management students say they need most?
- Can better scheduling and deadline spacing lift outcomes in business and management?