The Student Experience

Download: History, English Studies, Imaginative Writing and the National Student Survey 2010 in PDF format (1.01 Mb)

Author: Alexandra Cronberg
Published: May 2011

A sequel to John Hodgson’s earlier report on the experience of English students (see below), this report is based on a series of focus groups conducted with students. It provides evidence of the how they come to embark on joint honours study, the benefits they gain and the difficulties they encounter.  The report explores the synergies students perceive between their subjects and how they cope with different expectations and teaching styles.  Students also give their views on how they are approaching their dissertations and, in the longer term, their future careers. 

Download: The Experience of Joint Honours Students of English in UK Higher Education in PDF format (618kb)

Author: John Hodgson
Series Editor: Jane Gawthrope
Published: June 2011
ISBN: 978-1-905846-55-9

This report is about the experience of Joint Honours students studying English.  Based on a series of focus groups conducted with students in 2010/2011, it provides evidence of the how they come to embark on joint honours study, the benefits they gain and the difficulties they encounter.  The report also explores how students identify themselves, the synergies they perceive between their subjects and how they cope with different expectations and teaching styles.  Students also give their views on how they are approaching their dissertations and, in the longer term, their future careers.  The report concludes with consideration of how joint honours students of English in UK HE might be better supported.

Download: English Studies, Imaginative Writing and the National Student Survey 2009 in PDF format (1.01 Mb)

Series Editor: Jane Gawthrope
Published: November 2010

This report presents an analysis of the 2009 National Student Survey (NSS) for English and Creative Writing. The report makes it possible to see how students in these disciplines answered each of the 22 questions in the Survey, and the results are also presented in a comparative basis with History, other humanities disciplines and the NSS results as a whole. It is possible to look at the results by gender and region. A  methodological discussion of the NSS and an overview of the practical consideration for heads of department seeking to formulate strategic responses to NSS results are also included. The Subject Centre expects to publish an analysis of the 2010 NSS early in 2011.

Download: The Experience of Studying English in UK Higher Education in PDF format
Author: John Hodgson
Published: February 2010

In the spring of 2009 the Subject Centre commissioned a series of focus groups of undergraduate English students.  The purpose was NOT to gather information about individual courses but to enrich both the Subject Centre's and the discipline community's understanding of how students experience English programmes. A report of the study, 'The Experience of Studying English in UK Higher Education' by John Hodgson, has now been published.