Foreword 5 Thematic analysis Appendices Introduction Applicant Index Report 2026 Foreword Yet again, the Unite Students’ Applicant Index reveals the reality of life for those on the cusp of higher education. They are both excited and daunted by the next – more independent – stage of their lives. The pages that follow reflect the changing nature of the student experience in very useful detail. For example, the overwhelming majority of applicants now expect to undertake term ‑ time employment alongside their studies, and this has indeed become the norm among full ‑ time undergraduates over the past few years. This serves as a reminder that, for the majority of today’s students, higher education is qualitatively different from how it was even in the fairly recent past, let alone back in the more distant days when most of today’s senior policymakers were studying for their degrees. Parents electronically tracking their far ‑ flung student offspring is just another significant recent change and the nuanced findings on this do particularly stand out this year – while also reminding us of the importance of surveying each cohort afresh, as some things change year on year while others stay the same. This year’s findings also highlight (yet again) the real challenges young people face in terms of mental health, loneliness and general wellbeing. It is a hard time to be young, but these results should at least usefully help higher education institutions and student accommodation providers prepare for the next wave of incoming freshers. As with all such robust representative surveys, we see that young people are sensible, cautious and anxious, but also that they know their own minds and are ambitious about their futures. No one could look at these results and despair of the next generation. So despite the salutary lessons contained herein, the key takeaway is actually a constructive and positive one: young people are yearning to better themselves by joining communities rife with social connections, academic opportunities and rich extra ‑ curricular activities. Unlike some of those in positions of influence, school leavers believe higher education remains worthwhile. Today’s applicants – quite rightly – want to taste the same benefits that their predecessors have had, even if both students and the institutions they attend could do with more support to maximise the full range of those benefits. Nick Hillman CEO, Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) Nick Hillman CEO, Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) Belonging, equity and inclusion Back to contents