Appointing up to five student representatives per course improves the quality of feedback by giving a voice to different types of undergraduates, a study suggests.

Instead of electing a single course representative at the start of the year, students at Kingston University¡¯s Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing were this year invited to put themselves forward to work in a group to represent their classmates¡¯ views.

The change has vastly increased student representation within the faculty as many less-confident students and more from minority groups have stepped forward to get involved in the student feedback process, staff claim.

¡°If you¡¯ve only been at university a few weeks, it takes someone really brave to stand up in front of a class and say, ¡®I want to be your student rep,¡¯?¡± said Lucy Jones, the faculty¡¯s associate dean. ¡°You can now see a real mix in the type of student doing this, rather than the typical type of student who tended to take part.¡±

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The scheme also helped to improve students¡¯ presentation skills and self-confidence: five student representatives from the study¡¯s first year won sabbatical officer roles next year.

Among them is Denza Gonsalves, who was recently elected Kingston¡¯s first female students¡¯ union president in 12 years.

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Producing future student leaders is a welcome but unintended outcome, said Michelle Morgan, a learning and teaching coordinator who set up the scheme originally to improve academic feedback.

Many students with high workloads were previously put off by the extra work involved in being a student rep, and many did not consider themselves to be leaders.

¡°Being a course rep is not necessarily about being a leader, but developing skills in lots of different areas,¡± said Ms Morgan, who will present findings from the pilot study at the Higher Education Academy¡¯s annual conference at the University of Warwick on 3-4 July.

¡°Some very unassuming students might become excellent course representatives,¡± she said.

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jack.grove@tsleducation.com