60 Virtual Brochure – March 2025 Student outcomes and student experience Student outcomes risks appear on two thirds of strategic risk registers and student experience risks on three quarters. In terms of outcomes, risks around student retention and progression feature at some institutions, and concerns about graduate employment prospects are more pronounced than in recent years. In terms of student experience, many registers highlight risks around teaching quality, student engagement and National Student Survey (NSS) scores. The intersection between these two risk areas is worthy of consideration because it reverses the position seen in 2023. This year we see falls in terms of inherent risk and mitigated risk ranking for student outcomes (2nd to 11th and 3rd to 5th respectively). In contrast, inherent risk and mitigated risk rankings around student experience have both risen (23rd to 16th and 20th to 15th respectively). While we cannot be certain what’s driving this, evidence from mitigation strategies for outcome risks points to increased accessibility and use of data to establish targets and plans for underperforming programmes or areas, backed up by a variety of student engagement interventions. This appears to be boosting institutional confidence in ability to improve student outcomes. In comparison, mitigations around student experience risks point to concerns about the international student experience alongside subject specific challenges. Industrial action may have played a role and reductions in staffing may influence this going forward. Audit committees and governing bodies may wish to discuss the interrelationship between student experience and outcomes, drawing on available data, to inform consideration of risks and mitigation strategies. Page 19
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