A students’ sense of belonging is known to influence academic engagement, achievement and retention. At Newcastle, our large Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences (BBS) cohort is split across five subjects but dominated yearly by Biomedical Sciences (BMS, ~200-250/360 students), with far fewer students opting to study Physiological Sciences. Teaching group size is known to influence students’ ability to build meaningful relationships with peers and staff, influencing their sense of belonging, so the purpose of this project was to investigate BBS students’ sense of belonging and whether it was influenced by or determined subject choice.

A survey sent to registered BBS students received 256 responses (25% response rate). The respondent population was 70% female, 85% aged 18-21, 77% Caucasian and 88% Home/EU students which broadly reflects the overall BBS student body. The data revealed little difference in overall sense of belonging (using a 10-point scale) by gender identity and fee status, but a decrease in sense of belonging as students advance through their BSc degree (6.6 vs 6.0 in year 1 vs year 3) and notable differences between degree programme with the large BMS cohort scoring lowest (6.1) and Physiological Sciences highest (6.6). Interestingly, 4th year MSci (7.1) and placement year/study abroad students (7.5) reported the highest overall sense of belonging.

Focus groups and further analyses of survey data are ongoing and the preliminary findings of these will be presented with a view to identify approaches to target and improve student engagement and sense of belonging across diverse student cohorts, and elicit ways to enhance student understanding of degree choice.