“Our students have very much enjoyed engaging with Enlitened, and the wellbeing data generated as a result have the potential to be genuinely transformative. The future of student engagement is emerging, and we are excited to be part of it”, says Kelly Coate, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Education and Student and member of the advisory board for Enlitened.

After a successful 16 week pilot at Sussex earlier this year with first year students in the School of Psychology, Enlitened is being rolled out to all new undergraduates from September 2019.

Enlitened is a new platform that has been developed by The Student Room in partnership with the University to help improve student engagement and wellbeing. There are two parts to it, a mobile app for students and, linked to that, a real-time anonymised data dashboard built for universities. This additional insight will help us be confident that we’re making the right decisions for our students.

As a mobile app, Enlitened equips students to receive and share information on their phones instantly, and this is a way we can engage with students via their ‘channel of choice’. Students can use the app to reflect on their levels of engagement and wellbeing, and it also provides them with targeted content to support them to thrive at Sussex.

Additionally, students have the opportunity submit ideas to improve their experience, and to support ideas others have suggested. The University can use these insights to make improvements that make a real difference to student experience and wellbeing.

Ideas submitted by students during the pilot have already been actioned in the School of Psychology, including avoiding using double negatives in exam questions, as these can make understanding questions harder for students with Dyslexia. Such insights may lead to small changes that can have a big impact on students’ experience.

As the app is rolled out to all new students from Welcome Week onwards, the insights it provides will enable us to have a clearer understanding of students’ needs – helping us to deliver on key Learn to Transform priorities. You can find out more on our staff webpages and information is available for students on the Student Hub.