The Experiences of Undergraduate Commuter Students

Abstract

Copyright © 2020 Anne Chappell, Ellen McHugh, Emma Wainwright and Ken Gilhooly. Executive Summary. This research investigates the following issues: • The commuter student population at Brunel University London and the intersection with ‘under-represented’ groups of students; • The experiences of being a commuter student at Brunel; • The issues commuter students face while studying at Brunel, the types of support/ resources they have drawn on and the types of support/ resources they require; • Ideas, policies and practices the University could use to better support commuter students to enhance their experience, progression and success. The research was undertaken between December 2019 and April 2020 with undergraduate students using two stages of data collection. The first stage of data collection involved an online questionnaire open to all undergraduate students. The questionnaire was targeted at those undergraduates who self-identified as ‘commuter students’ and those who identified as ‘on campus’ students living in university accommodation. The second stage of data collection involved in-depth interviews with a sample of 10 undergraduate students who self-identified as commuter students. Participating students came from across all three Colleges at Brunel: College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences; College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences and College of Health and Life Sciences. This report details the context of the study, the research methods used, the key findings, and recommendations for Brunel and the wider higher education sector.