Learning *For this question, agreement indicates a negative response; the score for this question was reversed when calculating the index score My chosen course is a good fit for me *I think I will struggle to keep up with other students on my course I am sure I will complete my course I’m confident I can learn the knowledge and skills needed for my course Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Neutral Moderately agree Strongly agree Figure 16: Breakdown of responses to Learning theme questions The Learning score measures academic confidence among the cohort, combined with the level of comfort with course choice. Down 3 from 2023 69 This theme has seen the largest change in score since last year, with a three-point drop overall compared to 2023. This change is driven by more negative responses overall in each of the four questions. 4% 12% 26% 3 55% This year, 43% of applicants – and almost half of male applicants (47%) – think they will struggle to keep up with other students compared with 35% in 2023. Although the last three cohorts were directly affected by the pandemic there seems to have been a stronger impact on academic confidence among this year’s cohort. Over half of international applicants (55%) think they will struggle to keep up with others on their course, rising to 62% of applicants who are ethnically Chinese, of which the vast majority are international students from China. Care leavers are also more likely to think that they will struggle to keep up with others (61%) but levels are no higher than the average among estranged applicants. Most applicants are confident that they will complete their course, but Asian and Asian British applicants are slightly less confident. LGBTQ+ and care experienced and estranged applicants are also less confident about completing their course, as are applicants with a disability. While most applicants are confident they can learn the knowledge and skills needed for their course, White applicants (86%) are more confident than Asian (78%) and Black (76%) applicants, which has relevance to the BAME awarding gap. There is also a lower level of confidence among care experienced (70%) and estranged applicants (66%). For this question there is a steady decline in confidence between socioeconomic groups A (85%) and E (68%) – a pattern that is not replicated in other questions within this theme. 18% 23% 21% 22% 16% 4% 11% 22% 2 60% 5% 11% 27% 2 55% Unite Students | Applicant Index Report 28 INTRODUCTION THEMATIC ANALYSIS LEARNING METHODOLOGY TOPICAL ISSUES BACK TO THEMES