Vol. 7 No. 1 (2025): Engaging with the Student Voice Special Edition: Refreshing Practice and Theory – A reboot for 2025 and beyond

While the concept of "student voice" has been in use since the 1990s, primarily within the school context, it has taken on a central role in higher education in recent years. Initially driven by the National Student Survey (NSS) in the early 2000s and later reinforced by the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) from 2017 onwards, student voice has evolved into a key element of institutional and educational development strategies.

Beyond these sector-wide metrics, wider societal issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have further reshaped how staff and students engage at every level, from institutional and departmental to modular. These shifts have prompted a re-evaluation of traditional practices, creating new opportunities and challenges for engaging with students in meaningful ways.

As we look ahead, we hope that this issue sparks further exploration into the evolving concept of student voice and its application. Regular readers will know that each SEHEJ issue always includes at least one paper related to student voice, even when it is not the main focus. We see this special issue as the beginning of an ongoing conversation that will continue to develop in future issues, as the field of student engagement continues to grow and diversify.