Gain unique and essential insights into the student academic experience
SAES has been designed and developed in partnership with the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and with interviews conducted independently by YouthSight. The survey:
- Helps you better understand student expectations, perceptions and their experience of learning and teaching
- Provides key facts and insights to help you improve the student academic experience
- Plays a key role in influencing policy at a national level
Over 15,000 full-time undergraduate students participate in the Student Academic Experience Survey annually. Respondents are drawn from the YouthSight student panel, which is made up of over 78,000 undergraduate students in the UK. Since its launch in 2006, it has had a significant impact on policymakers particularly as demonstrated in the 2015 higher education green paper and the 2016 higher education white paper.
In particular, the survey illustrates where universities can take action to shape and meet the expectations of students in terms of their teaching and learning experience.
Student Academic Experience Survey 2025
Developed by Advance HE and the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), the Student Academic Experience Survey (SAES) has been tracking the the reality of student life since 2005/06.
What is SAES?
Pinpoint how you can shape and meet student expectations
The Student Academic Experience Survey, run in partnership with HEPI, is the only survey that provides essential data on key topics including contact hours, the number of assignments and student expectations of the time it takes academics to return these assignments, student wellbeing, their knowledge of access to counselling services and student perceptions on value for money.
Final Reports
Our Survey takes place at the same time each year among a directly comparable undergraduate sample, enabling us to measure genuine like-for-like changes. This year the report provides compelling evidence of how cost-of-living pressures are affecting the student experience. This significant shift is reshaping the university experience, with students reporting a notable decrease in time spent on independent study as they balance employment and academic commitments.
Key findings include:
- Term-time employment: 68% of students now undertake paid work during term time – a 12-percentage point increase from 2024.
- Independent study time: Hours spent on independent study have decreased significantly, from 13.6 hours per week in 2024 to 11.6 hours in 2025.
- Value for money: 37% of students perceive their course as good value for money (down from 39% in 2024), while 29% perceive poor value.
- Expectations: 26% of students say their experience has exceeded expectations – an increase from 22% in 2024 and double the figure from 2021.
- In hindsight: 11% of students would now choose an option outside higher education if they could decide again – nearly double the 6% recorded in 2024.
- Assessment feedback: The quality and speed of assessment feedback has improved significantly, with 61% of assignments now returned within two weeks, up from 45% in 2024.
The findings along with previous years’ reports can be downloaded here.
Other surveys
Working with the Insights team
Advance HE’s Insights team is made up of experienced mixed-method researchers and experts in implementing surveys and other techniques for data collection. Our expert team can provide, qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods offers, underpinned by sector-wide datasets from our student surveys and our sector leading higher education statistical reports. Whether you’re a sector agency, institute, university or another organisation with a higher education offer we will work with you to help higher education be the best that it can be.
