Student transition narratives connect social, academic and emotional experience

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Sarah Walker, Lillian Smyth, Riemke Aggio-Bruce and Joanne J. S. Chong examined university transition through 330 short student narratives. Their paper was published online in Journal of Further and Higher Education on 11 May 2026. Paper and DOI.

Evidence available for this briefing: the publisher’s indexed abstract and selected methods, findings and conclusion were accessible. The complete text was not retrieved, so this is a limited review.

What the accessible evidence describes

The wider survey recruited 374 undergraduates aged 18–24; 330 answered the transition prompt. Recruitment combined an Australian course-credit scheme and social media, with participants primarily at Australian and Asian institutions. Responses were collected before COVID-19 and concerned face-to-face university experience.

Students described starting university in up to five sentences. The analysis identified social, academic and emotional themes, each containing benefits, costs and uncertainties. The authors emphasised social connections within these accounts.

These narratives offer interpretations of experience. They do not measure UK prevalence, establish that one experience causes another, or test whether repeated surveys improve continuation. Publisher methods and findings.

Using the questions locally

Our practical suggestion is to allow mixed experiences in a transition review. A student may value a new opportunity while finding its academic or social demands difficult. Preserve that combination instead of forcing the response into a single positive or negative label.

Choose collection points around a clear institutional question. If asking again later, explain why and what can be acted on, rather than assuming more surveys necessarily provide better evidence.

Retain collection dates, questions and cohort context when comparing responses. A short narrative can suggest an issue to investigate, but it cannot reveal the experience of students who did not respond.

The governance checklist can support a survey comment review. It does not turn transition comments into individual risk predictions or proof of a retention intervention’s effect.

Review note, 7 September 2026: added the pre-pandemic sampling context, distinguished the wider survey from the 330 analysed narratives, and removed causal and early-warning product claims unsupported by this study.

Reference

Sarah Walker, Lillian Smyth, Riemke Aggio-Bruce and Joanne J. S. Chong (2026). “A terrifying, unknown new world” or “like finding the right pace on a run”: examining the student experience of transition to university. Journal of Further and Higher Education. DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2026.2669515.