Solving student accommodation problems could help address some of the UK higher education sector’s biggest challenges, a new report argues.
Universities must “rediscover and rearticulate” the sense of community that ought to underpin student housing, according to author William Whyte, professor of social and architectural history at the University of Oxford.
Doing so could be a step towards tackling other issues including settling questions about the legitimacy of the university in a changing world and student loneliness, the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) study says.
Moving Away? The Past and Future of Student Accommodation reports that the “overwhelming majority” of students still wish to leave their hometown to study.
Moreover, those who do so “benefit from this migration”, with Whyte citing research that finds nearly 90 per cent of those who do move away expressing themselves “satisfied” with the experience.
