What is the The National Student Forum provides students with a direct line to Government and other national

policy makers. It was set up by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS, now the
National Student Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, BIS) in early 2008 to give a greater voice to students
Forum? on higher education (HE) courses across England and to ensure that policies are the better for
being informed by the student voice. The Forum consists of an independent Chair, Maeve Sherlock,
appointed by BIS, a Vice-Chair (elected by members), and up to 18 other volunteer members who
reflect the diversity of the undergraduate and postgraduate population.

Forum members draw on their experience as students to identify the areas that they believe are
genuinely important for students, to define a reasonable student expectation in these areas and,
where appropriate, to make specific recommendations for improvement.

This report summarises the Forum’s views on the topics selected for detailed consideration this year:
teaching and learning, including technology-enhanced learning; employability, including information,
Report purpose, advice and guidance services, and work placements; postgraduate study; the continuing issues faced
by disabled and mature and part-time students; and student accommodation. It makes suggestions
approach about how the Forum feels the student experience could be improved in these areas.
and targets for
recommendations This report is aimed at policymakers, sector organisations and universities and colleges,* but takes a
differentiated approach for each audience, in acknowledgement of the sector’s autonomy. For each
topic, it outlines the rationale for focusing on the subject, along with a summary of common issues
faced by students. It also sets out:

‘ideal visions’ of how things should be if everything is working well

outlines of how universities and colleges can support students in each area – with illustrative
examples of where this is already happening
recommendations for new policy or increased focus, for further consideration by Government and/
or sector organisations as appropriate

BIS Ministers have committed to providing a formal response to the Forum’s recommendations.
Where the focus of recommendations falls outside the immediate scope of BIS policy, the Forum
invites sector organisations to consider how these relate to existing or potential activity and welcomes
suggestions from the sector as to how these might best be achieved. NSF members look forward
Report to engaging with sector organisations over the course of next year to explore how these might be
outcomes approached in more detail.

Finally, the Forum encourages individual universities and colleges to listen, reflect and consider any
action that it might be appropriate to take at an institutional level to improve the student experience in
the featured areas. It also actively encourages individual universities to feed back to the Forum on any
specific actions, improvements or initiatives that are taken in response to this report.†

*
We use the terms ‘universities’ and ‘universities and colleges’
interchangeably to refer all institutions providing higher education
†
Contact details for the NSF can be found on its website at
http://www.nationalstudentforum.com

Introduction 10 National Student Forum – Annual Report

National Student Role and remit
A key strand of the government’s Student Listening Programme was the launch of the National
Forum: remit, Student Forum (NSF) in early 2008, set up to provide students in higher education with an
membership and enhanced voice in the development of the policies that affect them. The NSF provides the
ways of working Government and partner organisations with direct access to the views of students from a wide
range of backgrounds and study environments. Its remit is to:

advise Government on the reasonable expectations of students

provide a student perspective on emerging policy areas, feeding views to policymakers

help evaluate the impact of existing policies on students in different circumstances

initiate discussion on areas of potential policy interest for the NSF or for Government

produce an annual report for Ministers’ attention and comment which includes recommendations
for Government

Membership
During the academic year 08-09, the NSF had eighteen members, initially appointed for a
two-year period, plus a Chair. Members were drawn from nominations put forward by the following
stakeholder bodies, working together with BIS to ensure that the Forum is reasonably reflective
of the diversity of the higher education student population: National Union of Students (NUS);
National Postgraduate Committee (NPC); Mature Students’ Union (MSU); Open University Students’
Association (OUSA); Skill: the Bureau for Students with Disabilities (Skill); British Council
(to nominate international students).

Forum Ways of Working

The full Forum meets four times over the course of the academic year. In addition, subgroup
meetings are held, where discussion of issues facing particular sections of the student population is
needed, or to develop initial proposals for further consideration by the Forum as a whole. During the
academic year 08-09, three such subgroups were held.

The NSF sets its own agenda. Meetings are regularly attended by Ministers, policymakers and
partner organisations, in accordance with the topic selected by the Forum. In addition, the NSF
contributed to the BIS consultation on the Future of Higher Education.

11 National Student Forum – Annual Report