5 UNITE STUDENTS | APPLICANT INDEX REPORT | 2023 their minds after they have enrolled, as they mature or have their eyes opened to other opportunities. But applying careful thought to the emerging information about applicants could reduce the likelihood of people making the wrong choices solely because they had insufficient information, which can be stressful, time-wasting and expensive. The present generation of school and college learners have faced unprecedented challenges. The mental health of young people had taken a big knock even before the shock of the pandemic and it only worsened during the crisis. It has not been a good time to be a young person. So it is pleasing to see there has been no further deterioration in mental health this year. Yet while educational institutions and many learners have proved remarkably resilient, the pandemic will leave an adverse impact behind on some people’s lives for many years to come. Because of COVID, most of this year’s A-Level and BTEC candidates have never taken a public examination before, for their GCSE examinations were replaced by Teacher-Assessed Grades. As they wait for their grades, no one seems absolutely certain whether the results will move back to pre-pandemic norms (despite what policymakers might say). So there is greater uncertainty than usual for applicants – and also, incidentally, for higher education institutions trying to match applicants to places as best they can. It is for all these reasons that I am a strong supporter of this Unite Students annual applicants’ survey. Before the survey existed, there was – amazingly – no regular stocktake of the views of those on their way to higher education. The following pages show clearly why the exercise is so important. No cohort of entrants is the same. Different groups have different expectations before enrolling in higher education and different experiences afterwards. So key indicators change each year. For many students, higher education is a key transition point in their lives and part of the shift to independent adulthood, so it will never be an entirely smooth journey for all involved. Nonetheless, knowing what applicants think about higher education before they matriculate is incredibly useful, irrespective of whether they each have an accurate picture or one with blurry edges. Finally, it is worth noting that this annual survey from Unite Students is part of a wider stream of work aimed at helping applicants directly and bolstering institutions’ understanding of how applicants change over time. Unite Students have separately produced materials under The Leap banner that help people make the transition from the compulsory phase of education to the voluntary stage after the age of 18. At HEPI, we have also produced our own resources for use by Year 12 and Year 13 students – these are freely available on our website as well as on our YouTube channel. Such information provides a vital resource for those who want to know what being a student at a UK university is really like as we approach the second quarter of the twenty-first century. Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute