Universities UK/GuildHE – Accommodation Code Stakeholder Research

Background and Objectives

With 144 member organisations and covering over 262,000 bed spaces throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland, The Universities UK/GuildHE Code of Practice for University Managed Student Accommodation (The Code) is legislated by Parliament to assure the provision of a high-quality residential experience that is safe, secure, sustainable and supportive for students.

The Code is intended to serve also as one of the approved codes of practice for HE and FE “managed and controlled” accommodation under the Housing Act 2004. This act introduced a system of licensing for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). The Code had last been reviewed in 2019 and, due to COVID as well as emerging considerations in universities around DEI and accessibility, mental and physical wellbeing and changing expectations around the duty of care that HEIs have, there was a feeling that the Code needed to be reviewed in order to ensure it was fit for purpose.

MEL Research undertook a multi-phased stakeholder consultation to identify:

• Perceptions of the current Code
• What stakeholders want from the Code at the overarching level 
• Gaps between the UUK/GHE Code and the ANUK codes and if these should be filled
• What else is currently missing within it – what measures need to be added?
• What (if any) measures are now defunct or need re-consideration in terms of wording / relevance?
• What would make using and interacting with The Code easier? E.g. how could the be better operationalised
• What might ‘on the ground’ users benefit from in order to leverage the value of the Code with more senior stakeholders within their HEI?

Approach
We spoke qualitatively to senior stakeholders from more than 30 HEIs, including Heads of Accommodation, Heads of Residential Services, Directors of Estates, Heads of Internal Audit, Accommodation Officers and a range of other roles to ensure coverage of a range of roles and experiences.

The study was conducted in five stages:

• N=14 initial scoping interviews, to understand the big issues and context
• An online survey, incorporating qualitative and quantitative measures (n=114)
• Asynchronous online community – a qualitative space for stakeholders to discuss and provide feedback across a week (n=17)
• Face-to-face workshop (n=13)
• In-depth reviews of recommendations – x 3

Outcome

We provided a full report to CUBO (who manage the Code on behalf of UUK/GuildHE) and members of the research team also delivered a roundtable session to discuss the results and agree ways forward. Final revisions to the Code will be approved by Parliament and will become live in the coming months.

“Fantastic engagement – understood our needs right from the offset, collaborative approach ensured we maximised the benefits we could get from the project and wasn’t afraid to give us really sound advice on our direction of travel. I would work with you again like a shot – the results were second to none -thank you!!” – National Code and Projects Manager, UUK/CUBO