Abertay University redesigned student communications to make processes clearer and easier to navigate. This case study explores how clearer language, reassurance around confidentiality and improved signposting are helping students engage with support services.

Ayrshire College wanted to move from reactive to proactive support for students with additional needs, including its significant care-experienced population. It introduced a "priority group process" of regular, informally toned check-in messages across multiple channels, allowing students to choose how they're contacted.

When Edinburgh Napier University committed to compassionate communication, it focused on the messages that matter most to students. This case study shows how a collaborative review of key letters helped make communications clearer, more supportive and student-centred.

The Hub for Success wanted to make discretionary hardship funding more accessible to care-experienced students. It helped institutions streamline processes by training funding teams in trauma-informed, professional curiosity, drawing on direct input from students with lived experience.

As SRUC welcomed its first international student cohort, it needed to pursue unpaid tuition while remaining compassionate and supportive in its communications. The institution assigned dedicated points of contact, drew clear boundaries between finance and student support, and equipped staff with practical tools to support students through difficult conversations.

South Lanarkshire College works with a diverse student population, many facing significant barriers to engaging with education. To engage with such a wide range of students, the support team built a series of proactive touchpoints across the year, from summer outreach and induction workshops to same-day crisis funding and a daily free breakfast club.

The University of Strathclyde wanted to improve the warmth and consistency of its award and outcome letters used across four devolved faculties. A cross-faculty project team reviewed all 30 letter templates, reading the letters from a student's perspective to rework tone, clarity, and terminology.

Following a review of its personal tutoring scheme, the Robert Gordon University set out to improve the consistency of its student support. The institution replaced personal tutoring with a "no wrong door" model, training all academic and professional services staff to handle routine and urgent referrals and establishing a cross-school coordinating group to oversee implementation.

St Andrews Medical School wanted students to understand their options and next steps before receiving formal letters about resits or termination of studies. It introduced early meetings following poor assessment results and a "long-thin" induction that spreads key information throughout the year rather than concentrating it in Freshers' Week.

West Lothian College needed a way to support students with difficult backgrounds, including justice system involvement and past trauma, without requiring them to repeat their story to every new member of staff. The Trust Project uses pre-briefed referral meetings, a dedicated Peer Navigator with lived experience, and regular staff training to build a whole-college, trauma-informed approach.