Teaching techniques that students show up for - An exploratory study of student engagement and attendance in UK Higher Education.

Abstract

Sector narratives relating to student engagement beyond COVID-19 report decreasing footfall on campus and attendance at timetabled classes. Researched factors leading to decreased attendance include; the advent of en-masse distant learning; a cost-of-living crisis often acutely impacting students; and students taking on higher amounts of part-time employment.  The study follows a recent research study’s finding, across three UK universities, that supported the above factors, while also suggesting that the timetabled session itself, teaching and learning approaches deployed, and the perceived learning benefit of each session, influenced students’ decisions to attend (Lowe, et al. 2025). As students are perhaps becoming more strategic with their time and making daily assessments regarding the perceived relevance of travelling to campus, this research study focuses particularly on the timetabled sessions themselves. This paper shares the findings of a qualitative study conducted by the School of Finance and Accounting at the University of Westminster (UK). In interviews held in 2025, students were asked about how teaching techniques, content chosen and the relevance of assessments to taught sessions, impacted their attendance. Findings highlight that students attend when they feel content is relevant to assessments; material covered is characterised by a level of difficulty that makes just going over content outside class insufficient; where the lecturer goes beyond reading slides to highlight application, relevance to securing employment and engenders engagement; sessions where lecturers care and form a relationship with students; active learning techniques are implemented and creative and novel learning techniques shared.