Despite uncertainty about the impact of changes in funding for higher education, there continues to be government support for widening participation and an emphasis on student retention. A number of studies have identified the first year of university as an important transition period but there is little in the way of evidence which identifies the factors which are important to student success. At the University of Westminster, the Widening Participation Survey Group developed an online survey of all first year students in order to gain an understanding of the student experience which would have implications for university policy and practice and enable the development of evidence-based interventions. The survey provided information about the students' perception of their University experience and included a number of standardised psychometric scales which allowed the investigation of health and mental health, coping, social and academic integration. Three cohorts of first year students have completed the survey and this paper details the findings from 429 first year students who are the first cohort to complete their degrees. As well as descriptive statistics, correlation and ANOVA were used to explore the relationships between variables. Among a number of findings, results indicate that students who were considering dropping out of University were characterised by poorer estimations of physical health, a poorer sense of well being, lower estimations of social support, a lower sense of integration and a lower level of satisfaction with their course. Higher award marks were related to measures of commitment to the institution and positive student evaluations about staff concern for students. Those students gaining a First Class Degree were characterised by high scores on measures of academic and intellectual development and their appraisal of staff concern for student development and teaching. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Government figures indicate that there are approximately 30,000 students in the UK each year who start full-time first degree courses, but fail to get a qualification. Students' experience of the first term or first semester has been identified as critical to student retention. Social and academic integration into university have been shown to be key elements leading to students' persistence. However, in a climate of large student numbers and limited staff resources, it is a challenge to provide cost effective strategies to enhance the first year experience. This paper discusses the implementation and evaluation of an innovative e-mentoring scheme for all first year psychology students by their third year peers at the University of Westminster. Third year student volunteers were trained as e-mentors and randomly assigned a small group of first year students to mentor by email. Baseline data were collected on a first year cohort the year before the scheme began and at three points during the first year of the scheme. Measures were taken on self-esteem, self-efficacy, confidence or anxiety, financial concerns, social integration, academic ambition and satisfaction with the university. Results suggest that the e-mentoring scheme resulted in a greater sense of social integration and greater satisfaction with the university. Overall, student assessment of the scheme was positive. Implications of the scheme as a cost effective mechanism for enhancing the first year experience are discussed.

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The impact of dyslexia and ADHD characteristics on study in higher education has been relatively neglected. This study investigates the prevalence of self-reported dyslexia and ADHD characteristics in 1182 undergraduate psychology students at four universities. Findings suggest that there is a high incidence of undiagnosed students in the ‘at risk’ categories for both dyslexia and ADHD. Whilst no relationship was found between achievement data and dyslexia scores, there were strong negative associations between ADHD subscale scores (inattention, hyperactivity or impulsivity and overall ADHD) and academic grades, indicating that those who score higher on ADHD rating scales are performing more poorly in academic tests than their lower scoring peers. Assessment results indicate that specific modes of assessment (multiple choice questions) may pose particular problems for high inattentive or ADHD scorers. The study suggests a need to focus on the identification and provision of support for students with problems related to ADHD characteristics, and indicates that many students, other than those who ‘declare’ a learning difficulty, would benefit from further support.

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