UK universities are unusual in many ways, particularly when compared to equivalent systems in Europe and our Antipodean cousins. One its most distinctive features is how our students are far more likely to move away from home to attend university – and not solely for the most prestigious institutions.
Many of our university campuses, courses, and activities are based on the assumption that students will live on or close to campus, and co-habit with other students. But this is no longer the case for at least a quarter of UK university undergraduates.
In my research with the vice-chancellor of the University of Greenwich, Prof David Maguire, we found that at ten universities, students living in the parental or guardian home make up the majority of full-time undergraduates, including City University London, the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Bradford. Universities in post-industrial towns and large, diverse cities where living costs are increasing - particularly London - are most likely to have large numbers of commuter students.
Commuter students are also more likely to be from a disadvantaged or underrepresented group: they tend to be first-in-family students, to come from a lower-income household, to be mature students and to have an ethnic minority background.
Commuters are also more likely to struggle whilst studying. Universities with higher proportions of commuter students are more likely to have lower student satisfaction rates, and almost one in ten commuter students say they wouldn’t have gone to university if they could make their decision again, which is higher than for any other group.
The challenges faced by commuters who do not live with their fellow students or must travel long distances are many and varied. They can include financial difficulties, given the high costs of public transport and motoring, and many commuters may choose not to live in increasingly expensive halls of residence for financial reasons in the first place. Travel has been proven to cause stress and challenges for all workers, and students are no different. Delays, cancellations and traffic can lead to missed classes and waste precious available study time, particularly if students are working part-time to make ends meet.
University courses and social environments may also not be best suited to the pace and rhythms of life for commuter students. Inconvenient timetabling of taught sessions is more disruptive to commuters. A lack of adequate common rooms and locker facilities can leave commuters feel they lack a “home” on campus. And not living in halls can make socialising difficult, taking part in extra-curricular activities, or making connections for group work and studying.
The importance of ensuring that all students have an equally fulfilling and enriching time, regardless of where they live, will become even more pressing if the sector is to continue widening access beyond the middle classes. The greatest increase in commuter student numbers came during the last significant acceleration in university participation during the mid-1990s, not long after the creation of new universities out of the former polytechnics.
Tim Blackman, vice-chancellor of Middlesex University, has also argued that growing the number of students studying locally could have wider benefits. “It is less costly to students and taxpayers, greener in transport terms and would take pressure off many local housing markets,” writes Blackman, who notes that such an approach could pave the way to a return of “free” higher education and the abolition of tuition fees.
If governments of either party are serious about opening up the opportunities of university to all, and also reducing the overall costs to both students and taxpayers, then commuting will become an even more common option. The challenge is to avoid creating a two-tiered university experience, with only the more privileged moving away from home and enjoying the benefits that geographical mobility can bring, while their less privileged peers stay at home for a less rewarding experience.
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David Morris is one of the authors of Homeward Bound: Defining, understanding and aiding ‘commuter students’, published by Hepi and UPP