Amy Tomlinson, Hull York Medical School & Stephanie King, School of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Hull
Transition to HE can be a challenging period of adjustment for students as they navigate the university learning culture and environment. Expectations are a key factor affecting the ease of transition to HE, and are said to be largely informed by FE experiences. Unfortunately, these expectations are often misaligned with the realities of university education. Understanding this is important, as misalignment has the potential to negatively impact engagement, satisfaction, success, and retention. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the FE learning experiences of first-year students with their expectations and experiences of HE learning, with a focus on whether expectations differ in students from traditionally underrepresented groups such as those from low HE participation areas.
This study is one part of a wider project involving a collaboration between four UK universities seeking to better understand and support the transition of sport students across the sector. This study gathered quantitative data from undergraduate students using an online survey with four sections: demographics, experiences of FE, expectations and experiences of their university programme, and skills perceived as necessary to be successful on their university programme. A total of 54 participants were recruited and completed the survey in December 2024. Data are reported as descriptive statistics.
From all respondents, 25.9% were in POLAR Q1, 9.5% in POLAR Q5, 57.4% were male, 37% studied A-Levels, 33.3% studied BTEC’s and 20.4% studied a combination of the two. A greater proportion of students working (or planning to work) >10hours per week during HE studies were in POLAR Q1 (25%) than Q5 (7.5%). Regarding identifying attributes important for success in HE; POLAR Q1 students reported a lower domain average (% responding ‘strongly agree’) to intrinsic attributes (38%), skills (30%) and extrinsic factors (39%) than those in POLAR Q5 (70%, 50% and 50% respectively). Those from a BTEC background also reported a lower domain average for intrinsic attributes (43%) and skills (25%) than those from an A-Level background (65% and 43%, respectively).
Initial findings indicate that those from low HE participation areas work more hours alongside HE studies and were less able to identify key attributes important for success in HE. These findings will contribute towards developing guidance that will better support the transition and continuation of sport students across the sector. Future research will see this realised through the combination of findings from all four involved institutions which will inform a larger multi-centre project.
Conference theme: Collaborative Research in Education