Commuter students: Why journey time matters

There has been a growing consensus in recent years that ‘commuter students’ are a group that face particular challenges to accessing and thriving in higher education. And along with this consensus, this group of students itself has been growing: UCAS statistics show that 31 per cent of UK 18-year-olds accepted onto higher education courses now plan to live at home while studying at university or college, compared with 22 per cent a decade ago.

There is far less consensus, however, about how to identify this group of students. We and the sector run the risk of missing out students in need or targeting support in the wrong places.

In an effort to combat this risk, we commissioned independent research by Savanta to help understand which measures of commuter status are most useful. We asked more than 1,000 students in England about their travel arrangements, living circumstances and experiences of higher education in order to identify which measures of commuting are most strongly associated with negative student experiences.

Students with longer journeys report poorer experiences

We found that journey time was the most effective predictor of poor experiences and the best way to identify commuter students in need. While all four measures Savanta tested identified students experiencing challenges, those travelling for 45 minutes or more (or one hour or more in London) had disproportionately worse experiences as students.

Students travelling for 45 minutes or more were consistently more likely to report practical, academic and social challenges. They were more likely to arrive late to classes, miss academic support opportunities (67 per cent vs 51 per cent), and spend less time on campus than they wanted to because of their journey.

They were also more likely to miss out on the wider student experience. Two thirds (67 per cent) had been unable to take part in societies, clubs or social activities at least once during term, compared with around half (51 per cent) of students with shorter journeys. More than one in five (22 per cent) said this happened regularly.

The research also asked students what support would help them. Suggestions included travel discounts and bursaries, more notice of timetable changes, and timetabling that groups classes into blocks. More striking was the lack of awareness of support on offer from their institutions, which suggests that many students’ lives could be improved just through greater utilisation of existing support.

Why does this matter?

Commuter students are not a homogenous group, and every student will face their own barriers to success, whether they have a long journey or not. Nor do I think it is particularly surprising that long commutes are associated with less time on campus or missing out on opportunities. But what is useful is having more evidence that we, along with colleagues across the sector, can use to focus attention and energy.

While the other measures also identified students experiencing some challenges, none showed such a consistent pattern of negative impacts across the student experience as journey time. We will use these findings to inform our ongoing review of the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register. Similarly, I’d encourage colleagues working to support commuter students to use journey time as an organising concept in their work.

This research is by no means definitive, however, and I would just as keenly encourage colleagues to contact us to share where journey time isn’t useful, for whatever reason. We would love to learn from your experiences. We’re planning further research to explore commuter students' experiences soon.

You can read the full Savanta research report and explore other student insight research commissioned by the OfS on accommodation, free speech, and students’ preparation for life after higher education.

You can also read more about these issues in the Higher Education Policy Institute’s recent series of blogs from their commuter student themed week.