SOAS tests online modules with student feedback before launch

Updated Sep 07, 2026

SOAS reports that student feedback has changed parts of its new online learning design ahead of the planned September cohort. On 11 August 2026, SOAS University of London published Testing, listening, improving: building the new SOAS Online learning experience, in which Dr Mark J. P. Kerrigan, Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement for Online Learning, describes employing SOAS students to test modules before launch. For Student Experience teams, PVCs, and quality professionals, the practical lesson is that student voice can shape the problem before consultation and before a learning design becomes harder to change.

What SOAS student feedback changed before launch

SOAS plans its reimagined online degree intake for September 2026. Its supporting online learning page, checked on 7 September, gives a start date of 21 September 2026 and describes 14-week modules built around asynchronous activity, five optional live sessions, and formative feedback. The 11 August article adds an important quality process: each module goes through student user acceptance testing before it goes live.

"Each module is tested before they go live by a process called user acceptance testing (UAT)."

SOAS employs current students to navigate the Moodle-based platform, work through learning materials, read instructions, and judge whether the content and learning journey feel clear and intuitive. The institution says the evidence informs educational design. This is more specific than asking testers whether they liked the platform. It gives them concrete tasks and asks for practical findings while there is still time to revise the experience. The account does not report the total number of testers, recruitment profile, a complete module-by-module test log or measured effects on subsequent learners.

The comments have already led to changes in the SOAS Online menu, assessment navigation, and signposting. Testers also reported on structure, activity variety, and the clarity of weekly tasks. SOAS says listening will continue after launch as part of continuous improvement, dialogue, and partnership, although the announcement does not specify the post-launch feedback routes or reporting timetable. The scope is one institution's online portfolio, not a UK-wide requirement, but it offers a clear model for using student feedback as pre-launch quality evidence.

What this means for institutions

The first implication is to build student testing into delivery gates, not add it after academic and technical approval. A useful test should ask students to complete realistic tasks such as finding assessment instructions, moving between weeks, locating support, and understanding what to do next. Teams can then record each issue, its owner, the agreed response, and whether the change passed a second check. The benefit is an evidence trail that links a student comment to a design decision before launch.

The second implication is to distinguish targeted testing from representative feedback. SOAS's approach is well suited to finding navigation, clarity, and signposting problems, but targeted testing cannot show how every learner will experience a live module. Institutions still need inclusive routes once teaching begins, particularly for online students balancing employment, caring responsibilities, different time zones, or accessibility needs. This is where designed participation across several student voice routes matters: pre-launch testing should be the first feedback loop, not the only one.

The third implication is about coherence. UAT findings, module evaluations, support enquiries, representative channels, and annual survey comments can easily end up with different teams. Wonkhe's warning about fragmented student feedback systems is relevant here because adding a new testing route only helps if institutions know how its evidence connects to decisions after launch. Quality teams should define in advance which findings stay with learning design, which move to programme teams, and how recurring issues will be escalated and reported back to students.

How student feedback analysis connects

SOAS's pre-launch testing shows why open comments need enough structure to support action. A note such as "assessment information was difficult to find" is useful only when teams can connect it to the affected module, the task being attempted, the agreed owner, and the change made. A student comment analysis governance checklist can help institutions set those rules before testing starts, including how comments will be stored, grouped, reviewed, and closed.

The analysis challenge grows after launch, when feedback arrives across modules, cohorts, service surveys, and support channels. Student Voice Analytics can help institutions group recurring open-text themes consistently at that scale, but it should complement rather than replace task-based testing. A useful approach is to use UAT to find design problems, then examine live feedback alongside participation, access and learning evidence. Different testers and live cohorts are not automatically comparable, and comments alone cannot establish the effect of a design change.

FAQ

Q: What should institutions do now if they want to add student testing before launch?

A: Choose one module or service that is still being built, define a short set of realistic student tasks, and recruit testers who reflect different access needs and study patterns. Record each finding with an owner, decision, and retest status. This keeps the exercise focused on changes that can still be made rather than general satisfaction.

Q: What is the timeline and scope of the SOAS Online change?

A: SOAS published the testing update on 11 August 2026. Its current page gives 21 September 2026 as the planned intake start date, and the institution says each module is tested before going live. This is a SOAS quality and learning-design practice, not a national policy or survey methodology change.

Q: What is the broader implication for student voice?

A: Student voice is more useful when it enters both before and after delivery. Pre-launch testing can identify concrete barriers while teams can still fix them; live feedback can then identify experiences to investigate in the wider cohort. Neither stage alone establishes that the design works for every learner. Institutions need both stages, connected by a visible record of what students raised and what changed.

References

[SOAS University of London]: "Testing, listening, improving: building the new SOAS Online learning experience" Published: 2026-08-11

[SOAS University of London]: "Online learning" Published: not stated