Generative AI has prompted educators to reevaluate traditional teaching and assessment methods. This study examines AI's ability to write essays analysing Old English poetry; human markers assessed and attempted to distinguish them from authentic analyses of poetry by first-year undergraduate students in English at the University of Oxford. Using…

This paper explores the difficulties and support experienced by non-traditional students during their first-year transition to a sport and exercise course at a post-1992 university. The transition to HE presents simultaneous educational, ecological and developmental changes for students and their capability to navigate changes may affect…

This paper draws on research conducted in four publicly funded secondary schools in the South-East of England that explored the higher education decision-making of prospective first-generation university entrants accessing school-based widening participation interventions. It begins by introducing an "ecology of intersecting influences"…

The importance of embedding employability skills in English Higher Education has received increased attention since the introduction of tuition fees and employers claiming that graduates lack the necessary skills for the workforce. This paper considers how these employability skills align with students' aspirations, when there is uncertainty…

Previous research has revealed how mature students are more likely to drop out of university education, achieve poorer degree outcomes and have greater family, financial, caring and work commitments to contend with than their younger peers. In response to calls for further empirical work on mature students' university experiences and informed…

The institutional move associated with embarking upon post-16 study is part of the learner journey taken by many young people in England, including those from widening participation (WP) backgrounds. However, it can present a challenge, although one that has received comparatively little attention from researchers, practitioners and policy makers.…

Loneliness is a subjective feeling of isolation or lack of companionship that is distinct from anxiety and depression. Loneliness is a significant problem for students that not only affects their wellbeing but also their ability to learn at university. Using a pre-registered protocol, this study investigated the effectiveness of a peer support…

The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to better understand the transition from secondary school to higher education regarding students' assessment and written-exam experiences. We used mixed methods to investigate students' experiences of first-year university physics exams and cancelled secondary school exams, regarding their motivational…

The range of abstract concepts encountered when learning chemistry and the inability of students to make connections between the macroscopic, sub-microscopic, and symbolic representations, used in chemistry teaching, are believed to be the main reasons for students' difficulty when learning chemistry. Prediction and determination of molecular…

Student retention is a priority in universities, as drop-out rates among university students within 12 months of starting continue to rise, according to UK figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) (https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/performance-indicators/non-continuation, accessed February 2022), and with…

Meaningful mathematics learning requires creating opportunities for learners to make use of their awareness to contact important mathematical structures. Four first year undergraduates studying engineering, mathematics and education were invited to construct examples meeting specified constraints in order to investigate their awareness of…

Academic self-efficacy, the belief that one can achieve desired academic goals plays an important role in learning. This study aimed to determine the extent to which academic self-efficacy mediates relationships between students' perceptions of feedback and their academic attainment. An opportunity sample of 232 students (123 female) in their…

Student transition into higher education can set the foundation for success at university. However, some students, perhaps in increasing numbers, find this transition difficult. This study explores contemporary students' experiences when transitioning into Higher Education (HE) to gain an up to date picture of the multiple, potential sources of…

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been repeatedly associated with a wide range of physical and mental health issues. Research has indicated high levels of anxiety and depression among university students, and a few studies have documented the relationship between ACEs and anxiety in the university student population. This study surveyed…

Lack of acceptance of biological evolution, despite the overwhelming evidence that supports it, can be very problematic in higher education courses that have a strong biological basis. We investigated acceptance of biological evolution in 344 first-year Life Sciences undergraduate students across five programmes at the University of Roehampton,…