What do history students need from student support?

student supporthistory

History students need predictable, human support that combines swift responses, assessment clarity and proactive wellbeing contact. In NSS (National Student Survey) open-text, student support records 68.6% positive and 29.7% negative sentiment, with an index of 32.9. Feedback from history cohorts is more mixed at 51.9% positive and 44.7% negative, reflecting discipline-specific pressures around assessment transparency, access to sources and seminar-based learning. These insights shape the approaches highlighted in this case study.

What specific challenges do history students face?

History students face substantive challenges that require targeted responses from universities and their staff. During COVID-19, accessing primary sources was difficult as libraries and archives closed, constraining research and the quality of assignments. Discussion-heavy seminars moved online, limiting debate and depth. Institutions should enhance digital access to research materials and design online interaction that sustains debate, replicating the responsive, dialogic nature of seminars so learning remains engaging rather than isolating.

How do mental health and wellbeing shape support?

Isolation and uncertainty increased stress and reduced informal opportunities to seek help, which depressed engagement. Regular, structured check-ins and a named contact for issues keep students connected and supported. Departments should prioritise timely triage, visible follow-through and signposting to wellbeing services alongside help to navigate large digital resource sets. This blend maintains academic focus and emotional resilience.

How does online delivery affect history learning quality?

Online delivery exposed the limits of replicating seminar dynamics and highlighted the need for better facilitation. Moderated discussion spaces, scheduled small-group debates and tutor presence sustain dialogue. Departments should also provide targeted academic skills support for sourcing and evaluating digital materials, with short training in digital literacy to maintain analytical development outside the classroom.

What changes in assessment and academic support work best?

Assessment clarity determines confidence. Students respond well when programmes publish annotated exemplars, checklist-style rubrics and plain-English marking criteria, and align feedback to those criteria with realistic turnaround times. These steps directly address recurring concerns about expectations and how work is judged, and they preserve perceived fairness when assessments run remotely. Quick, specific feedback through digital channels remains essential.

How should disability accommodations work online?

Remote learning exposes gaps in accessibility if services rely on in-person mechanisms. Standardise accessible communications, ensure platforms and materials are usable with assistive technologies, and provide accurate captions and readable documents. Guarantee rapid triage with named case ownership, maintain proactive follow-ups until resolution, and monitor time-to-resolution and reasons for delay so adjustments happen quickly and consistently.

What positive support practices did students value?

Students praised staff who created informal community touchpoints and used data to target help. Regular virtual tea sessions gave space to share concerns and successes, reducing isolation. Tutors also used text analysis in forums to spot themes and misunderstandings, providing immediate guidance. Personalised, visible support that closes feedback loops sustains engagement and trust.

What should universities prioritise for future crises?

Prioritise rapid triage and multiple contact routes, keep communication channels coherent through a single front door for updates and support, and timetable peer discussion to maintain community. Protect the academic core by sustaining access to sources and the availability of staff, and make assessment changes explicit with what changed and why. Maintain inclusive design and proactive check-ins for disabled students, and commit to timely, criterion-referenced feedback so academic standards and student confidence hold up under disruption.

How Student Voice Analytics helps you

Student Voice Analytics tracks student support and discipline-level patterns for history, surfacing the topics and sentiments that matter. It shows trends over time, with drill-downs from provider to school and course, and like-for-like comparisons across CAH subject areas and student demographics. You can export concise, anonymised summaries and tables to brief programme teams and professional services, focusing effort where it most improves student experience.

Request a walkthrough

Book a Student Voice Analytics demo

See all-comment coverage, sector benchmarks, and governance packs designed for OfS quality and NSS requirements.

• All-comment coverage with HE-tuned taxonomy and sentiment.
• Versioned outputs with TEF-ready governance packs.
• Benchmarks and BI-ready exports for boards and Senate.

Book a demo Prefer email? [email protected]

More posts on student support:

• What support do UK universities provide for literature students, and where do gaps remain?
• How should universities support students in counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy?
• Do English studies students get the support they need?
• What do software engineering students need from student support?

More posts on history student views:

• Do structured collaborations improve learning for history students?
• What do UK history students say about teaching delivery?
• How do strikes affect history students in UK universities?
• Do history students prefer digital or traditional learning resources?