NUS Insight Market Research for our Students’ Union members

NUS Insight The Insight Team at NUS Services provides bespoke student research and insight to Students’ Unions as well as commercial clients and third sector clients. An excellent track record in providing research of all shapes and sizes. The exclusive focus on students means that NUS Services understand the student sector and their influencers better than anyone. A team of experienced researchers dedicated to the student movement, we are the experts in students.

Why NUS Insight….? Between the team, over 30 years’ experience in research and insight Expertise in student lives and techniques to research them Expertise in Strategic Review research Expertise in a variety of research methods including concept testing, student journeys and student experience Collaborative approach Tailored solutions

Where we sit within NUS Services

NUS Insight – meet the team

We offer a range of research services to our members… …to discover actionable insight How to Guides Commercial Services Review Co-creation Impact Evaluation Engagement Research Concept Testing Customer satisfaction Strategic Review Customer journeys How to Guides – Accessible and simple to follow Co-creation – a qualitative technique to offer better insight and move towards creating and testing solutions in a live situation Concept testing – e.g. latest brand concepts for NUS Extra card – focus groups to explore appeal Strategic reviews – links with SSU Customer journeys – exploring the attitudes and behaviours of students Ethnography – lifestyle and more based on participant observation Students’ Say Omnibus – monthly survey to students on our database Customer satisfaction – e.g. students satisfaction with NUS extra card and members satisfaction/feedback on NUS Students’ Say Omnibus Ethnography Focus groups

What we know… What’s important to students and what are students doing with their time Things that are top of mind for students are… Popular daytime social venues Popular evening social venues Home/friend’s home 55% Home/friend’s home 64% 42% - My course 33% - Money & finances SU café/canteen 31% Pub/bar drinks 30% High St. coffee 29% Pub/bar meal 28% Night club 25% What’s missing… What’s missing… How students are spending their time Non-alcoholic events/activities Late night cafes Music venues Film nights Social/common areas Coffee shops Gym/exercise classes More clubs & societies Gaming On internet/computer 84% Meeting friends 76% SU’s seem to have a fairly accurate picture of where students are socialising mentioning home/friend’s home followed by SU café then high street coffee shops during the day and home/friend’s home followed by local pubs/bars for a drink followed by a meal and then night clubs and during the evening Watching TV/films 75% Hot off the press! SISM is a yearly report that we conduct with students and SUs each year. It allows to gain an understanding of what’s going on for students each year, and what’s important to them. We can also track certain questions to allow us to highlight key trends B1. Which of the following do you do in your spare time? Please select all that apply Base: 4459 Respondents B3. Using the list below, please tell us your top five things that are on your mind whilst at university? Please rank your top five where 1 is the top thing on your mind at college or university, 2 is second to top and so on. Base: 3447 respondents Balance: no response B4a. And looking at the following please rank them in order of importance to you, where 1= most important and 6=least important Base: 4336 Respondents B4. During term time where do you generally go to socialise during the daytime? Please select as many as apply Base: 4452 respondents Balance: no response B6. Thinking about all of the social activities available to you during the daytime, is there anything missing? B7. During term time where do you generally go to socialise during the evening/night-time? Please select as many as apply Base: 4441 respondents Balance: no response B8. Thinking about all of the social activities available to you during the evening/night-time, is there anything missing? B12. Now thinking about friendship groups, which of these groups of people do you feel the closest to? Please select one answer Base: 2700 Respondents Image credits: Mortor board created by PJ Souders from the Noun Project. Sun in public domain. Moon in public domain. Shopping 53% Participation in extracurricular activities Sports clubs/teams 35% What’s most important Course/academic societies 29% Fun/special interest societies 28% 36% - Feeling like I am succeeding on my course 41% - High quality teaching Volunteering 22% None of these 28% *only showing those chosen by 9% or more

What we know… Motivations & Experiences at University or College What’s important when choosing an institution What’s important to students in order to succeed in life… 1 Course 87% Learning life skills Learning to work well with others 76% 77% 87% 86% 2 On the whole students’ unions seem to underestimate how important these elements are to their students *SU estimates in grey boxes Institution 80% 3 Accommodation 46% 82% Getting a good degree 82% 82% 12 SU 23% Satisfaction now at institution Applying knowledge from my degree to my career 80% Gaining more confidence in meeting people & socialising 80% Gaining work experience 80% 72% 66% 67% 1 Course 88% 2 Institution 87% 80% 3 Accommodation 64% Students C1. Thinking back to before you became a student, how important, if at all, were the following when choosing a university / college? Base: Course: 4362, Institution: 4335, Accommodation: 4247, SU: 4206. Balance no response. C2. And now that you’re at university or college, how satisfied are you, if at all, with the following elements of your university / college experience? Base: Course: 4351, Institution: 4345, Accommodation: 4285, SU: 4222. Balance no response. C3. And still thinking about your time at university or college, please indicate how far you agree or disagree with each statements (success & risk statements). Base: 4465. Balance no response. Students’ unions B4. I’m now going to read out a list of statements that can be associated with student success and risk, and I’d like you to tell me approximately, what percentage of your students you think would agree with each one. Base: 42 Respondents B5. Finally for this section, I have another bank of statements, again, that can be associated with student success or risk and I’d like you to tell me approximately, what percentage of your students you think would agree with each one. Base: 42 Respondents. Image credits Happy face created by Tobias F. Wolf from the Noun Project 4 SU 56% Students generally seem happy with their choices Students’ unions seem to slightly underestimate the happiness of their students! *SU estimates in grey boxes 88% - Happy with chosen institution 84% - Doing my course is one of best decisions ever made 82% - I feel able to achieve my full potential on my course 76% - There is good morale amongst students on my course 78% 70% 72% 72%

What we know… Student Finances How students are funding themselves Average weekly spend Parents/Family 51% Weekly food £24.32 Student loan 42% 52% Work 17+hours a week Travel £17.35 Savings 33% Clothes £15.61 Paid work (term time) 28% Course books £14.26 Paid work (holidays) 20% 76% Eating out £13.25 Work 17+hours a week Course equipment £12.20 Bars/pubs/clubs £11.21 Reasons for working Type of job held during term time D1. Which, if any of the following, are your main sources of income? Please select as many as are applicable. Please remember your responses are entirely confidential. Base: 4420 respondents Balance: no response D2. You told us paid work in term time is a source of income for you. Approximately how many hours a week on average do you work during term time? Please select one option only. Base: 921 respondents Balance: don’t rely upon paid work in term time for a source of income D3. And what type of job do you have during term time? Base: 1250 respondents D4. You told us paid work in the holidays is a source of income for you. How many hours a week on average do you work during the holidays? Please select one option only Base: 976 respondents Balance: Don’t rely upon paid work in holidays as a source of income D6 Which, if any, of the following reasons best describes why you have a job? Please select one option only Base: 1072 respondents Balance: Don’t rely upon paid work for a source of income D7. Now thinking about what you spend your money on, how much is your weekly average spend on the following items: Base: 4465 for all except ‘other’: 3288. Balance no response. Image credits: Money created by Piger from the Noun Project Alcohol £10.88 37% job not related to future career 30% job not related but offers transferable skills 10% job related to future career Accommodation/food/bills 13% Other food £10.64 Socialising 12% Non-alcoholic £9.04 Saving for future 11% CV/work experience 11%

What we know… Students’ Union Facilities Students’ union facilities used *all the time/often/sometimes Average weekly spend Overall satisfaction with SU facilities Coffee shop 52% £8.17 Students’ unions have reported a move away from bar usage to more coffee shop usage Café/canteen 45% £9.40 Night club 43% £12.69 Launderette 26% £8.56 Convenience store 25% £10.07 Games/amusements 24% £10.17 Online students’ union facilities used *all the time/often/sometimes Average weekly spend Students E1. How often do you use the following facilities at your students’ union? Base: 4465 except for ‘other’:3603. Balance no response. E3. How often do you use the following online facilities at your students’ union? Base: See chart. Balance no response. E5. On average, how much do you spend per week on the following students’ union facilities? Base: coffee shop: 2011, café/canteen: 2459, night club: 902, launderette: 943, convenience store: 1881, Games/amusements: 559 Respondents Balance: No response and not used facility E6. And so taking into account all of the aspects of the Students’ union that you have just been thinking about, overall how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the Students’ union facilities? Base: 4459 respondents Balance: no response Students’ Unions 3. In your opinion, how has this (usage of students union facilities) changed over the past 3 years at your union? Base: 42 Image credits: Online/laptop created by Ahmend Elzahra from the Noun Project Online loyalty/discounts 30% NA Print shop 26% £8.24 Online clubs/societies 21% NA 21% £12.80 Online shop £10.59 Online tickets 20%

What we know… Relationship with the Students’ Union Half or more agree their students’ union… Areas SUs should focus on in order to improve …improves the student experience 59% 91% NUS extra 29% …meets the needs of the students 57% 55% Employment agency 10% …understands the students 54% 79% Catering 7% …keeps up with the modern student 53% 60% Extracurricular activities 6% Students are well informed about their SU 50% 45% 6% Retail trade Areas for improvement… *only showing those chosen by 6% or more 36% 57% …the SU is better than others I know of 81% students’ unions mentioned helping improve student employability as a challenge for them this past year …the SU is an exciting place to be 43% 74% Students F1. Here are a number of statements regarding university / college and the Students’ union. Please confirm how strongly you agree or disagree with each statement Base: improves experience: 4397, meets students needs: 4404, understands students: 4398, keeps up with modern student: 4396, students are well informed about their SU: 4399, SU is better than others: 4399, SU is an exciting place to be: 4395, SU is central to students’ lives: 4408 Balance no response. F2. And which, if any, of the below would you focus on to improve your students’ union? Base: 4116 respondents Balance: no response Students’ unions A9. I’m going to read out a number of statements regarding university / college and the Students’ Union. Please confirm how strongly you agree with each statement. Base: 42 Respondents D1. NUS conducted some research into the main challenges for students’ unions in 2013, these were found to be [READ OUT LIST]. Which of these, if any, would you say are challenges for your students’ union this year? …the SU is central to students’ lives 43% 46% 71% of students’ unions mentioned increasing student expectations as a challenge for them in the past year Students’ unions tend to over estimate their impact & how they are perceived *SU estimates in grey boxes

Students’ Unions we have worked with

Focus on… our work with the Strategic Support Unit… The Insight Team have developed a closer working relationship with the Strategic Support Unit and have collaborated on a number of projects recently.

Case studies – strategic review Students’ Association in Central Scotland Students’ Union in the North West

What else have we done for Students’ Unions… Understanding the importance of student engagement and life on campus Gaining insight into uses for an empty building space in the heart of campus Understanding experiences of students living on campus Evaluating the impact of projects and student volunteering activities

Tiered approach Offer support and advice to carry out the research by yourself Collaborate on the research project, using your team expertise too Carry out the project entirely for you

Commercial clients

Case studies Leading software company Leading drinks company

Third sector, government and educational organisations

Third sector organisation Case studies HE organisation Third sector organisation

Over to you… What experience of conducting research has your organisation had…? Who have you worked with in your research in the past? How do you think we could help you? What sort of support do you think we could give you? Would you consider working with NUS Insight?