Engaging students in educational enquiry

PhD students' perspectives on skills development

The Postgraduate Education & Development team within CCTL designed and undertook a mixed-methods project to understand the needs of PhD students in their skills development, with the aim of enhancing the impact of the programme of activities and workshops available to them. Funding was provided by the Research Culture Fund.

Nearly 300 PhD students from a broad range of disciplines and stages of study chose to respond to our survey, providing us with broad insights into their experiences. A diverse subset of nearly 30 students further volunteered to participate in creative workshops, co-creating visual representations of the key skills they envision developing by the end of their PhD in Cambridge.

These students’ narratives provide a valuable evidence base for us to continue to respond to their needs and experiences, mapping pathways through the PhD journey and identifying new themes and modalities for development opportunities.

Our innovative evaluation methods for exploring student perspectives piqued interest beyond Cambridge; the project team were invited to speak at an academic skills forum at the University of Oxford and an academic evaluation policy conference at LSE.

For more information, contact Dr Jessica Scott (js2962) and Dr Annette Mahon (am354)

A student-led 'APP PAR' Project on awarding gaps

Between 2020 and 2025, in support of the collegiate University’s Access & Participation Plan (APP), over 100 students worked with the support of CCTL to co-design and co-deliver almost 30 qualitative studies of what they perceived as factors contributing to persistent differences in educational experiences and assessment outcomes at Cambridge.

In accordance with APP commitments, for this ‘Participatory Action Research’ project there was a particular focus on students with declared mental health conditions and Black British students.

By 2025, students had presented their research and engaged with almost 400 staff through CCTL events. Since 2023, project pages on our website have been viewed by over 1,100 different users, with each individual student project receiving almost 150 views. The project has established a strong qualitative foundation for understanding awarding gaps from students’ perspectives.

The students’ research and recommendations will continue to guide CCTL’s focus on inclusive education in support of the new 2025-29 APP, with a priority on developing self-evaluation methods and creating pedagogy-led, evidence-informed enhancements.

For more information, contact Dr Ruth Walker (rgcw3) and Dr Pui Ki Patricia Kwok (pkpk2)

I found it restorative to see the agency and leadership of students. Another highlight for me was the opportunity to confront the complexity of the problem, that there is no single ‘silver bullet’ to eliminate awarding gaps but, as students urged, this work provides much needed momentum to keep organising and acting on different levels across the University and beyond.