Welcome Survey 25/26

The Welcome Survey

With a 14% response rate and responses from almost 700 students, the Welcome Survey provides a sufficiently large and diverse sample to draw meaningful insights about the first-year experience.

Here’s what they told us about their first few weeks.

Download the full report here, or select one of the main survey sections below.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Students report a warm, socially vibrant and well-supported welcome, with exceptionally strong SU impact and consistently high settling-in scores. Academic confidence is rising, driven by sharper departmental induction and strong course fit.

However, cracks are emerging: a growing gap between settling-in and belonging, falling academic preparedness linked to unclear pre-arrival information, and navigation challenges concentrated on Colchester. The social experience varies widely - students who hit the key induction/SU touchpoints thrive; those who miss them struggle with isolation or homesickness.

Students praised social opportunities, SU events, academic staff and the campus environment, but highlighted recurring frustrations around navigation, pressure, accommodation costs, admin clarity and travel difficulties.

98% felt welcomed in their first month
90% rated departmental induction positively (↑10 points)
96.7% say they’re on the right course
89.7% say the SU had a positive impact (↑8.7 points)
85% feel settled in
75% feel they belong
50.3% felt academically prepared (↓6 points)
21% of Colchester students struggled to navigate campus

Key actions for 26/27

Strengthen pre-arrival foundations
1. Earlier, clearer information
2. Better systems support
3. More consistency on arrival days
Make belonging a university-wide priority
1. Structured, inclusive opportunities in the first six weeks
2. A focus on relational, community-building interventions
Improve and standardise departmental induction
1. Minimum standards across all departments
2. Stronger social connection opportunities baked into induction

university life & belonging

essex FEELS welcoming

98% of first-year students agreed Essex is welcoming, unchanged from last year, representing a real endorsement for the collaborative welcome efforts of the University and Students’ Union.

In Southend and Loughton, 100% of respondents felt welcome – which is a brilliant start for their university experience.

SETTLING IN COULD BE SMOOTHER

83–85% of students said they’ve settled into life at Essex, consistent year-on-year. This shows stability but also signals room to improve how new students transition into university life.

belonging FALLS AGAIN

75% of new students felt they belonged (a fall of 6% over the last two years). Colchester has the lowest rates (74%) followed by Southend (82%) and Loughton (91%). This implies that the bigger the student population, the less a student feels they belong.

NAVIGATION IS A BIG ISSUE

Although over 60% of students agree it has been easy to find their way around campus, this metric has consistently remained lower than other Welcome experience indicators.

When we break the data down by campus, it becomes clear that this is almost entirely a Colchester issue rather than a university-wide pattern.

The qualitative feedback reinforces this. A total of 168 students described navigation or finding teaching rooms as the worst part of their first month.

opportunity to improve support

81% knew where to find support if struggling - up 1% from last year. This consistency shows that students continuously feel well-informed about where to go for help.

However, this contrasts with the qualitative feedback later where some students cite support or administrative issues as part of their “worst” experiences. This suggests that while students know where support is, their experience of accessing it is not always consistent.

pre-arrival preparation

PRE-ARRIVAL INFO HARD TO FIND

Up 2% from last year, 73% found online information easy to access before arrival. Loughton students struggled the most (46%), compared with Colchester (74%) and Southend (64%).

Insights from this question have continued to point to this being an area for improvement and action across several years now.

Opportunity to better prepare students

50% felt well prepared for studies - down from 56% last year.

A certain level of uncertainty is to be expected in starting University studies, however this year’s drop reflects a combination of national trends and local factors shaping students’ confidence before arriving.

academic support

departmental inductions improve

90% rated departmental inductions positively, up 10% compared to last year.

This is one of the strongest improvements across the whole survey and reflects several key changes in how departments are supporting new students.

course confidence increases

97% agreed they were on the right course, climbing steadily over the years. This is an exceptional result and it is especially important given that uncertainty about course fit is a key predictor of early drop-out.

It reflects several reinforcing trends in student decision-making and early course experience.

social connections

drop in students making friends in first month

Positive responses dipped to 78%, down from 82% last year. While it’s a small drop, it’s not a worrying one. This year’s result is still higher than 2023/24 (76%), showing a generally stable pattern over time rather than a decline in social connection.

su-led activities making a big impact

In this question respondents were able to choose more than one option, as applicable to their experience. Most students made friends on their course (393), followed by in accommodation (213), reflecting the two areas where they spend the most time.

Of significant interest is the total number of respondents who made friends through Students’ Union led activities (287). When combined, these activities exceed accommodation and come close to the number of friendships formed through courses.

This pattern helps explain why social experience appears both as one of the “best” and “worst” aspects of students’ first month. Students who engaged early with course-based induction or SU led activities were far more likely to make connections. Those who missed these touchpoints were more likely to report homesickness or loneliness.

drop in students meeting on their course

80% said they successfully met peers on their course, down from 84% last year, but it’s similar to both 2023/24 (80.7%) and 2022/23 (77.8%), showing this year’s figure sits comfortably within the normal range.

fewer friendships outside course

This year 61% of students said their first month at Essex was successful in helping them meet students not on their course. This is slightly lower than last year but almost identical to the longer-term pattern.

The Good, Bad & Ugly

ESSEX HELPS STUDENTS FEEL CONNECTED

The most common positive theme by a significant margin is the social environment, with 274 students saying that interactions with peers, staff, and the overall welcoming atmosphere were the best part of their first month. This indicates that Essex excels at helping students feel connected, particularly during early transition weeks. Academic experiences and staff support also feature prominently. Many students praised their lecturers, the structure of their courses, and the helpfulness of wellbeing and support teams. Clubs, societies, and events make up another major highlight, showing that extracurricular opportunities significantly enrich the student experience. Students also valued the campus environment and facilities, particularly the library, study spaces, and scenic areas around the lake. These spaces seem to enhance day-to-day wellbeing and provide a positive learning atmosphere. Overall, the findings show that students feel welcomed, supported, and socially connected.

Students' worst experiences in their first month mostly relate to navigating campus, with many feeling lost, confused by building layouts, or unsure of where to go for classes. The second major issue is academic pressure, especially workload and a perceived lack of support from academic staff.

Overall, the themes describe a transition period where students feel overloaded, disoriented, financially pressured, and still adjusting to new routines. Despite this, a few comments show that some experiences were minor or situational, such as someone simply noting that their milk went bad, which added a bit of humour to the dataset.

THE ONE THING STUDENTS WOULD CHANGE...

The results strongly reinforce earlier findings in this report:

Students consistently call for clearer and earlier information

More structured opportunities to meet people

Better navigation support

Better accommodation basics

These themes directly align with the preparedness data, social connection patterns, wayfinding issues and the worst experience themes).

And confirms that the key friction points in Welcome are consistent across multiple touchpoints and are experienced by students in predictable ways.

MARMITE MOMENTS

There are some themes in the feedback from both the “best” and “worst” responses that overlap. The same areas can be a source of joy or frustration, depending on a student’s specific situation, a bit like Marmite.

These contrasts reveal four key insights:

Social experience varies significantly. Some students feel at home immediately, while others struggle with loneliness.

Academic life is both a highlight and a stressor. Students appreciate their lecturers but may feel overwhelmed by workload.

Support is valued but inconsistent. Many praise staff, but a noticeable minority feel let down.

The campus is loved aesthetically but not intuitively designed. It is beautiful to be in, but difficult to navigate.

Strengthening consistency, offering clearer support and providing better early guidance could help ensure more students end up on the “love it” side of the experience.

what's missing

STAFF RESOURCE IS AN ISSUE

One of the biggest unseen factors is the level of resource behind this year’s welcome activity. The scale and quality of the welcome experience was delivered during a period of significant staffing reduction and ongoing financial constraint. Permanent staffing levels have fallen sharply over four years.

This means the 2025 welcome was delivered with the smallest team the SU has had in recent memory, alongside a decreasing block grant and tightening budgets across all areas. The report shows impressive results, but it does not reveal the level of effort, flexibility and determination that staff demonstrated to keep the student experience at the heart of everything.

CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS

The other thing numbers cannot capture is the human side of welcome. During the first few weeks, SU staff stepped in again and again to make sure students felt supported, understood and safe. A few examples include:

“Two new Life Science PGT reps arrived expecting another typical and disconnected postgraduate experience. Instead, they were surprised by how quickly they became part of the Essex community. Within days they had joined societies, signed up as department reps and started enjoying SU Bars and Sub Zero. They told the team they already felt more involved and included than they had throughout their entire undergraduate studies at other universities.”

“A student arrived during Welcome Week stressed because they could not get their laptop to connect to the internet. Patrick (IT Support Coordinator) helped them get set up, and in conversation learned they were also hoping to meet other Sri Lankan students. With help from Marketing, the student was linked into international social events and found their community. They returned later that day smiling and grateful for the support.”

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