As part of the University’s Centenary Celebrations, a team led by David Stack in History has been researching the experiences of students and staff from working-class backgrounds at the University of Reading. Beginning with the widening participation roots of the University in the 1890s Oxford Extension movement and coming right up to date with policy recommendations for a more socially inclusive campus, the team have aimed to highlight working-class presence, celebrate success, and acknowledge ongoing challenges. Over the next few weeks, we are going to publish a series of linked blogs exploring some of the themes the team have been working on. Today, Abbie Tibbott summarises some of the key research into working class student experiences.

As the university prepares for its centenary, it was fitting for me – a PhD student who identifies as working class – to be involved in a project that aims to bring visibility to class identities as part of the celebration.

Over the past nine years of my time here at Reading, I have completed (nearly) three degrees, been involved in a public history project that brought together several different communities, and now, left my mark on an issue that is important to me.

It’s positive that Reading is already doing well in lots of areas. Improvements in internship schemes, inclusive curriculum aims, and student social spaces make our university a great place to be. I have always found Reading to be a welcoming place, but it is crucial that more attention be given to the distinguishable needs of working-class students.

I completed a review of current literature on why working-class students struggle to achieve good degree outcomes compared with their middle-class peers.

It highlighted some key issues:

The hidden rules

Working class students do not understand the ‘rules of the game’ at university, so are less likely to seek help.

Better support for these students means breaking down the ‘rules’ into explicit, easy to digest information embedded within the curriculum, and providing more training to academic tutors on what the university student of the future might look like.

The hidden costs

All students deserve to relax and partake in extra-curricular activities but not everyone has that luxury. Less affluent students are more likely to need part-time work and miss out on the valuable connections needed to succeed at university.

If employability was embedded into the curriculum, students would take away valuable, relevant work experience that is not at the expense of their spare time.

We live in a world where a degree is not enough on its own, and my report highlighted the disparity in what busy students can expect from their time at university. It is not simply a place to get a degree, but to forge a future.

Improvement requires institutional accountability: we all need to work together and do our best to see and respond to working-class students in areas where they may feel invisible.

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Abbie Tibbott is a PhD student in the Department of History at Reading.

This article was written for the “Celebrating Class” blog series, exhibition and conference. You can join the conversation on our Padlet.