Community 22 I would like to feel that I belong when I’m at university Figure 16: Breakdown of responses to Community theme questions 2% 5% 12% 24% 57% Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Neutral Moderately agree Strongly agree I look forward to making friends from different backgrounds 3% 4% 13% 27% 53% I have little interest in the social side of university * 32% 21% 17% 13% 16% I want to be an active part of the student community while I’m at university 4% 7% 20% 27% 42% The fall in the community score is driven by a smaller proportion of applicants wanting to be active in the student community. There has also been a drop in the proportion who strongly agree that they are looking forward to making friends from different backgrounds. Despite these shifts in community indicators, applicants remain just as confident as last year’s cohort that they will feel welcome and that they will belong. However, it should be noted that this means a third of applicants are unsure they will feel like they belong, and a quarter unsure that they will feel welcome. Community orientation has weakened, though confidence in welcome and belonging remains stable. * For this question, agreement indicates a negative response; the score for this question was reversed when calculating the index score Appendices Introduction Community Thematic analysis Applicant Index Report 2026 Belonging, equity and inclusion The Community score measures the orientation of the cohort towards being part of a student community, and the importance they place on this. 70 Down 1 from 2025 Back to contents