ENGAGED STUDENTS

Imagine2030
Annual report 2024-25

Three students walking through reception at AGLC smiling
Three students walking through AGLC reception smiling

Student Sentiment Survey

The Library ran a Student Sentiment Survey in November 2024, the first since 2019. Managed by the Library’s Our Students Steering Group, the short survey gave students the opportunity to provide feedback on a variety of Library facilities and resources as well as make suggestions on what they would change.

With close to 1,000 responses, the feedback has provided valuable insights into what students value and what improvements we can make. The results were used to develop a Library Student Experience Action Plan, which, amongst other things, included an action to redevelop the toilet provision in the Main Library. This was completed in summer 2025 ready for the start of the new academic year.

The survey will now be repeated on an annual basis.

New facilities in Blue 1 ladies toilets, hand dryer and sink

Refurbished toilets in Main Library

Study pod in Blue Ground of Main Library

Pod for student use in Blue 1, Main Library

New desks and facilities in Muriel Stott building

Redevelopment of the Muriel Stott study space and external courtyard

Two students sat at desks in Blue 1 recently redeveloped area

Redeveloped spaces for use in Blue 1

Three students walking through AGLC reception smiling

Digital Skills

This year the Library worked alongside the Flexible Learning Programme to trial holistic and diverse sets of opportunities to support students’ digital capabilities and literacy.

Two students looking at a laptop together

This was a complex pilot that included on campus and online support, new programmes (including running Microsoft Certification exams), and the launch of LinkedIn Learning for staff and students.

The Library provided dedicated e-learning support for all University of Manchester users. The success of this work led to the JISC digital capabilities tool and the Library’s own growing support around GenAI for learning being incorporated institution wide.

Three students walking through AGLC reception smiling

Increased student engagement in FSE across training programmes

Building on the ongoing collaboration between the Teaching, Learning and Students (TLS) and Engagement Teams to embed Library teaching into the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) degree programmes, this year saw TLS deliver sessions to a cohort of 500 third-year Engineering students.

For the first time upon request, the TLS Team delivered on a new unit, developing students considering PhD research. TLS and Student Team members worked closely with FSE academics to design sessions that addressed student needs and incorporated relevant digital tools. While direct correlation cannot easily be drawn, the Library saw a year-on-year increase in students from FSE attending My Learning Essentials open workshops.

A female lecturer in front of a class gesturing at a blackboard

Student feedback described the sessions as informative, engaging, confidence-boosting, and beneficial to their learning. Many students noted that they planned to change their approach to study because of what they learned.

Academic feedback was equally positive. In particular, the new unit saw a marked improvement in the quality of students’ work following Library-embedded teaching on writing longer academic research projects and delivering research presentations. Academic teams have submitted repeat teaching requests for the coming year.

“As DHoE, I am very grateful for the engagement with our students and even more appreciative of the desire to improve that engagement with our feedback.”
Department Head of Education

We hope this collaboration will continue to go from strength to strength, further embedding Library expertise into the student learning journey.

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