Research & policy.

Today’s higher education students emerged from the coronavirus pandemic and began university at the height of the cost-of-living crisis. The Students’ Union launched our cost-of-living hub a few years ago to help students who are dealing with substantial financial pressures while undertaking their degree at Royal Holloway, but there is still work to be done in this area to better support current and prospective students. Many of our Sabbatical Officer’s Priority 8 workstreams are centred around issues of affordability, and the aim of this project was to gain better insight about the ways the cost-of-living crisis impacts various elements of the Student Experience. You can view the results here and list of recommendations here.

In our 2025 Rate Your Union survey, 66% of survey respondents agreed to an extent the statement, ‘I know how the Students’ Union works and how decisions are made.’ 87% of agreed to an extent with the statement, ‘I am kept well informed about what the Students’ Union does’. Both statements are part of our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for our current strategy, Building Community, Leading Change. This research project was centred around understanding how well the Students’ Union communicates with students. We wanted to find out what’s working, what’s not, and how we can make it easier for you to hear about SU decisions, events, activities and services while you’re at Royal Holloway. View the results here.

In February, VP Education, Matthew, co-hosted a paid in-person focus group with the Commuting Students’ Community Officer, Delilah, to better understand student interest in introducing nap pods to the Egham Campus. This work was linked to Delilah’s Safe Travels Campaign and Matthew’s Increase Social and Study Spaces Priority. The focus group was so helpful in understanding student interested about nap pods on campus we wanted to open the questions to the wider student body to gather more insight. We launched a short survey for two weeks in March and 104 students shared their feedback! Check out the results below to see what student said about designated spaces to rest on the Egham campus. View the results here.

Olivia Davies, VP Wellbeing & Diversity, proposed Women’s Only Gym Hours to offer female-identifying students a designated time to access the gym and/or fitness sessions to exercise confidentially and comfortably in a space of their own. We launched a survey asking female-identifiying students about their interest and the results showed 99% of respondants would like some type of women's only sports hours. As a result, ALS piloted Women's Only Gym Hours at the Sports Centre, along with a Women's Learn to Lift programme. Due to their success, both initiatives will now become permanent features. View the results of the survey here. 

Sharanya Sivarajah, President, has been campaigning to improve student safety at Royal Holloway. As part of this she launched a survey to get student feedback on how safe they feel in Egham and Englefield Green. 506 students responded telling us where needed better street lighting, how safe they feel, what routes need improving, the impact of the back gate being closed and more. So far, the Univerity has been improving lighting around the back gate and other areas on campus. We are speaking to the council about improving the bus service and advocating for the extending the opening hours of the back gate. View the results of the survey here.