User guide for the Framework for Student Needs

This user guide is designed to support higher education institutions in implementing the Advance HE Framework for Student Needs. The framework serves as a comprehensive resource for institutions to evaluate their student support interventions and identify areas for improvement, mapping students' fundamental needs across two critical areas: those that relate to their competence, confidence and resilience; and those that relate to community and belonging.

This guide outlines how institutions can adopt a systematic and strategic approach to mapping current support activities, conducting gap analyses and developing action plans to address students' needs. It encourages senior and practitioner stakeholder engagement, cross-functional collaboration and flexibility to adapt the framework to specific institutional contexts.

Continuous improvement and reflective practices are emphasised to ensure sustainable student support, with regular review cycles and data-driven decision-making recommended for ongoing effectiveness.

Collaborative development

As with the Framework for Student Needs, this user guide was developed in collaboration with Professor Edward Peck, Higher Education Student Support Champion for the Department for Education. It has benefited from comments from a multi-agency Reference Group; Advance HE thanks its members for their contribution.