Student success: Thriving through the first year of university
We are so incredibly proud of the amazing progress all of our students have made this year. The students that we support at The Bridging Project all come from under-represented backgrounds and are at a significantly higher risk of dropping out of university in their first year. These students also started the academic year with many challenges to overcome; whether that was transitioning into university life, understanding the skills they needed to develop to manage living and working independently, or finding ways to build networks in a new environment in order to feel a sense of belonging and support.
Through our programme of 1-1 coaching sessions, these students all had the opportunity to develop key leadership skills including resilience, problem solving and confidence, develop long term goals and short term targets and build a sense of belonging at university in their first term.
Fast forward to the third and final term and these same students are flourishing and proudly achieving the goals they first set with their Bridging Project coach.
In addition to regular coaching sessions with our coaches, our programme also offers students other opportunities to learn and develop alongside each other, including workshops, group coaching sessions and focus groups. In our latest focus group with a mixture of students from the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and Nottingham University, we reflected on how far the students have come so far and the impact The Bridging Project has had on their lives.
We’re pleased to share some of the key thoughts from our wonderful students!
We asked: What has your experience been on The Bridging Project?
Our students said…
The Bridging Project has helped them to develop lifelong skills
“The coaching sessions were really good for initially thinking about how I manage my time, then as the term went on, I started focusing on longer term goals. Setting myself tasks and learning how to follow through with them was useful.”
“Working with The Bridging Project has helped me to gain confidence, get revision done and normalise the overwhelming feelings I had with the huge amount of information we were expected to learn. Asking for help has been really important when trying to get work done and The Bridging Project has really aided in this.”
“It’s been so useful having particular pieces of work broken down step by step and planning the work and what resources and help were needed. I’ve learned a lifelong skill that I can apply at uni and other areas of life.”
They really benefited from the experience and expertise of their coach
“It was great to have an unbiased viewpoint to discuss things and work with someone who's not connected to the university in any way, with an outside perspective to help ground me, was really useful. Uni can be a bubble and it’s easy to get sucked in, so it was good to have this support.”
Their coaching sessions have helped to develop a sense of belonging
“The Bridging Project has helped me feel like I deserved to be at university and created a sense of belonging there. I didn’t get to the point of feeling like I wanted to leave uni, but I felt undeserving of my place and that others are more intelligent and deserving. Coaching has helped me work through this and helped me feel like I do deserve my place there.”
“The experience was great since it has really smoothed the transition from A-levels to University and it has helped me fit in.”
We asked: What would your university experience have been like without The Bridging Project?
Our students said…
“A little bit more self-doubt, and not as much positive self-talk. In a uni where sometimes you can feel like you aren't as good as other people, it's very nice to be encouraged by a coach! I also would have had less routine and more burnout if I hadn't focused on improving this with my coach.”
“It would have been more stressful and I would have been worried about contacting teams in uni. The experience would have been much scarier and it would have taken much longer to settle in.”
“I likely would have struggled more with deadlines and set bad work habits in the first term which would then be a challenge to break. It would honestly have involved a lot more post-procrastination crying! My essay sources would also be a little less effective, because The Bridging Project has encouraged me to find ways of working (and textbooks) that work for me.”
We asked: How would you describe The Bridging Project programme to prospective students?
Our students said…
“A source of encouragement and helpful for adjusting to university life. It’s good to talk to a third party about issues instead of supervisors or those involved in the uni sometimes.”
“Essential in my first year. Positively impacted my planning, stress management, and most importantly helped me improve academically by being honest about the way I work.”
“A way to get support for a variety of questions or problems you may have whilst traversing university and everyday life. It’s definitely worth doing; it’s helpful for setting and attaining goals and solid support for any aspect of university life.”
We asked: Out of the main areas we focus our support on at The Bridging Project, which area have you felt the biggest difference in from being on the programme and why?
Our students said…
Soft skills
“There are so many different time sensitive assignments to keep track of and complete! It’s the most useful thing to have, these skills aren’t developed elsewhere at university. I didn’t know any goal setting techniques before my coaching sessions.”
Support
“My coach is very reassuring by nature. Confidence is something I struggle with so support and encouragement has been very helpful for me. Being able to ask for help, thanks to coaching, has really improved my experience and attainment.”
Belonging
“Because of the relationship between me and my coach I was happy to talk about outside of uni and how that could affect feelings about uni as well as in gaining confidence throughout all areas of life.”
We asked: What do you feel went well with your coaching sessions?
Our students said…
Sharing similar experiences
“I think being able to relate to your coach through either sharing a similar experience or even a hobby you enjoy spending time on was good for starting the relationship.”
“I had a good relationship with my coach, which was helped by being able to connect with my coach over things like shared interests/ hobbies or other areas of our life outside uni work. This then made it feel easier to talk to my coach about things and be more candid within the coaching session.”
“My coach’s experience of working with students and understanding of what stresses come with being a student helped them support me, by being bubbly, friendly and encouraging. Both the personality of my coach and being connected to Bridging Project alumni students at the same uni on the same course to offer additional help and support.”
Building a strong relationship
“My coach has been very encouraging and helped me a lot with confidence, overcoming imposter syndrome and feeling like I earned my place at university. It was easy to get into a rhythm of a schedule that worked for both of us.”
“My coach has been very flexible with sessions which helps when balancing uni life. Hour long sessions have been ideal for getting into ideas and setting goals.”
“Because of the relationship between me and my coach I was happy to talk about outside of uni and how that could affect feelings about uni as well as in gaining confidence throughout all areas of life.”
We are so incredibly proud of the impact our coaches and our coaching programme has on first-year university students. We can’t wait to see what they go on to achieve!
To find out more about our coaching programme, take a look at our Impact Reports or get in touch.
