Student–staff partnership models transform transitions in college-based higher education

A QAA-funded Collaborative Enhancement Project (CEP) has published a major new report exploring pathways and transitions in college-based higher education.

The project has been led by a team from Birmingham City University in partnership with colleagues and students from Bishop Burton College and University Centre, Derby College Group, Nottingham College, Solihull College and University Centre, and Walsall College.

Their report explains the background to the project: "Further education colleges play a critical role in widening access to higher education, particularly for students from underrepresented and non-traditional backgrounds. However, college-based higher education remains under-researched and presents distinct challenges in supporting students' transitions into and through HE study. This CEP has addressed this gap by examining how flexible pathways and effective transitions can be enhanced through student-staff collaboration."

The project involved staff and students from the five participating further education colleges who volunteered to pilot the use of an innovative model designed to facilitate structured, dialogic engagement between students and staff, dubbed the Cycle of Collaborative Observation, or CoCO. This model comprised six stages: pre-observation reflection, pre-observation discussion between students and staff, observation, post-observation reflection, post-observation discussion between participants, and a reflective write-up.

Students found that participation in the CoCO model enabled them to develop a stronger sense of ownership over their learning, alongside enhanced reflective and critical thinking skills. They reported increased confidence, improved understanding of assessment expectations, and greater engagement with feedback processes.

Staff found that their participation supported the development of more student-centred and facilitative pedagogical approaches, reinforcing the value of student voice in shaping teaching practice.

The study highlights the importance of pedagogical relationships in supporting transition.

The report explains: "Collaborative dialogue between students and staff helped to build trust, challenge traditional hierarchies and create more inclusive learning environments. These relational dynamics were closely linked to improvements in students' sense of belonging and academic identity, both of which are critical for persistence and success in higher education."

The project has also demonstrated the value of embedding transition support within curricula: "Practices such as explicit teaching of assessment criteria, structured opportunities for feedback engagement and scaffolded academic skills development were shown to be particularly effective when integrated into programme delivery. In addition, experiential and collaborative learning approaches contributed to the development of transferable skills and professional identity."

The project makes a series of recommendations to support flexible pathways and effective transitions in college-based higher education.

The first of these is to highlight the importance of embedding partnership and collaboration, through structured student-staff partnership approaches and the adoption and adaptation of collaborative frameworks to support ongoing dialogue and shared reflection.

It also emphases the value of supporting transition through curriculum design, by integrating transition support within the curriculum rather than relying on reactive interventions, and by providing scaffolded learning experiences that progressively develop students' independence, academic confidence and criticality.

It shows how assessment and feedback practices can be enhanced by strengthening assessment literacy, embedding structured opportunities for feedback engagement, and using assessment as a site for dialogue.

It similarly promotes opportunities for reflective and dialogic learning and prioritises the development of pedagogical relationships in inclusive and supportive learning environments, as well as underlining the importance of staff development and the allocation of appropriate resourcing.

It argues that, within these structured approaches, flexibility in delivery remains crucial, and that, to ensure the sustainability of these practices, they should be embedded within institutional strategies and quality processes.

By doing so, the project finds that "student-staff partnership approaches can play a transformative role in supporting effective transitions in college-based higher education".

Project lead Professor Matt O'Leary reflects on the projects findings on the QAA Blog.

One of the partners in this project, Nottingham College, is meanwhile developing its own CEP in partnership with Nottingham Trent University and the Open University to create a quality toolkit for college-based HE.