The Student Voice Weekly

The Student Voice Weekly is a short podcast for UK higher education leaders who want to turn student feedback, policy and research into practical action.Each week, Dr Stuart Grey, founder of Student Voice AI and Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, unpacks the latest evidence on student voice, assessment, feedback, regulation and institutional improvement.Expect concise briefings on HE research, OfS and QAA developments, NSS and survey practice, and practical ways to use student comments more rigorously.

The Student Voice Weekly is a education podcast hosted by Dr Stuart Grey, with 25 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Dr Stuart Grey hosts The Student Voice Weekly, a education show with 25 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #25

  Where your student comments actually go

  Aug 14, 20266 min

  This week, Dr Stuart Grey steps away from the usual research and sector-news format to talk directly about data security and provenance. Prompted by Student Voice's recent move to serve Irish institutions from an EU data centre, Stuart explains how regional residency and model provenance work together. UK customer data remains entirely in the UK, while Irish customer data is processed in the EU. Categorisation and sentiment analysis use deterministic machine-learning models; locally run LLMs are used only for summarisation. In This Episode - Why student comments need to be treated as sensitive evidence rather than ordinary spreadsheet text. - Why UK customer data remains entirely resident in the UK. - What EU data residency provides for Irish institutions-and what it does not answer by itself. - Why categorisation and sentiment analysis use deterministic machine-learning models. - Why LLMs are used only for summarisation and run locally on controlled hardware. - What data provenance means in practical terms. - Why model, taxonomy, prompt, and processing versions matter for credible trends. - Five questions to ask before uploading real student data to an analysis tool. Practical Resources - Student comment analysis governance checklist: https://www.studentvoice.ai/resources/student-comment-analysis-governance-checklist/ - Student Voice Analytics governance and reproducibility: https://www.studentvoice.ai/student-voice-analytics/ - Student Voice Analytics and generic LLMs compared: https://www.studentvoice.ai/compare/student-voice-analytics-vs-generic-llms/ - ICO guidance on UK GDPR: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/ - ICO guidance on international data transfers: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-and-the-eu/data-protection-and-the-eu-in-detail/the-uk-gdpr/international-data-transfers/ Practical Takeaway Pick one student comment and map its full journey from upload to analysis, reporting, retention, and deletion. Any point that cannot be clearly explained deserves attention before real student data is processed. About This Recording This episode was recorded by Dr Stuart Grey. The transcript was prepared from the final recording and lightly corrected for names, technical terminology, and readability. Subscribe Subscribe to The Student Voice Weekly: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/newsletter/.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #24

  Let students shape the question

  Aug 7, 20268 min

  This week, Dr Stuart Grey asks who gets to decide what universities ask students in the first place. Drawing on papers he read this week, his own teaching, and Student Voice's national NSS comment analysis, Stuart explores what changes when students help frame the question, produce the evidence, and interpret what it means. In This Episode - Why student-led consultation can change the quality of wellbeing evidence. - What Bangor University's student consultants added by working across the whole evidence pipeline. - What Student Voice's Feedback and Student Support categories reveal beyond the headline average. - What a study of more than 1,200 students reveals about self-doubt and feedback-seeking. - How CAH codes support like-for-like subject comparisons without becoming a league table. - Why a category is only a starting point when one comment can cover several experiences. - How earlier student involvement can carry through into curriculum review and routine practice. Research - Student-led wellbeing strategy works best when students lead the consultation: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/student-led-wellbeing-strategy-works-best-when-students-lead-the-consultation/ - Self-doubt makes students watch for feedback, but hesitate to ask for it: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/self-doubt-makes-students-watch-feedback-but-hesitate-to-ask/ Across the Sector - Advance HE says student voice should start before consultation: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/advance-he-student-voice-should-start-before-consultation/ - Northampton's Inclusive Curriculum Toolkit shows how student listening can reshape assessment and feedback: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/northamptons-inclusive-curriculum-toolkit-student-listening-assessment-feedback/ Student Voice Evidence - NSS open-text analysis methodology for UK higher education: https://www.studentvoice.ai/resources/nss-open-text-analysis-methodology/ - What UK students say about feedback: https://www.studentvoice.ai/category/feedback/ - What UK students say about student support: https://www.studentvoice.ai/category/student-support/ Practical Implication Bring students into the evidence process before the questions and proposed solutions are fixed. Use categories and CAH comparisons to locate patterns, then read the comments in context and turn the shared interpretation into routine practice. About This Recording This episode was recorded by Dr Stuart Grey. The transcript was prepared from the edited recording and lightly corrected for names, terminology, and readability. Subscribe Subscribe to The Student Voice Weekly: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/newsletter/.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #23

  Designing participation that students can use

  Jul 31, 20269 min

  This week, Dr Stuart Grey looks at how universities can design student voice around usable space, meaningful expression, a real audience, and visible influence. The episode considers a Manchester Metropolitan University case study applying Lundy's participation model, a scoping review of how higher education research defines belonging, Leicester's NSS 2026 results, and the consistency questions raised by Swansea University's Quality Enhancement Review. In This Episode - Why adding a feedback channel does not necessarily widen participation. - How space, voice, audience, and influence provide a practical audit for student voice. - What a reflective departmental case study can and cannot demonstrate. - Why belonging measures need definitions grounded in student experience. - How open comments can explain what students recognise as visible action. - Why strong partnership structures still need consistent assessment and support rules. Research - Student voice gets stronger when participation is designed, not assumed: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/student-voice-gets-stronger-when-participation-is-designed-not-assumed/ - Belonging surveys are stronger when students define what belonging means: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/belonging-surveys-are-stronger-when-students-define-belonging/ Across the Sector - Leicester's NSS 2026 results show why student voice gains need visible follow-through: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/leicester-nss-2026-results-student-voice-visible-follow-through/ - Swansea's QER says strong student partnership still needs more consistent assessment and support rules: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/swansea-qer-student-partnership-assessment-support-rules/ Practical Implication Take one existing student voice route and identify where students can contribute, how they can express a view, who is expected to respond, and what evidence will show that their contribution had influence. Subscribe Subscribe to The Student Voice Weekly: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/newsletter/.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #22

  When participation becomes influence

  Jul 24, 20269 min

  This week, Dr Stuart Grey looks at the difference between students participating in teaching and feeling able to influence it. The episode examines a study of 1,713 final-year students in Colombia, where expressive voice accounted for a modest part of the relationship between collaborative learning and academic achievement. It then considers research on care and engagement, Sheffield Hallam's move away from a university-wide module evaluation process, and the evidence standards universities still need when student voice becomes more local. In This Episode - Why participation and influence are different dimensions of student engagement. - What the Colombian study can and cannot tell us about expressive voice and achievement. - How care, clarity, interaction, and assessment design shape engagement. - Why changing the unit of a survey may not resolve weak participation. - What institutional governance is needed when Schools use different feedback methods. - How open comments can distinguish participation, influence, response, care, and clarity. Research - Student voice improves outcomes when students can shape teaching: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/student-voice-improves-outcomes-when-students-can-shape-teaching/ - Student engagement depends on visible care, not just teaching technique: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/student-engagement-depends-on-visible-care-not-just-teaching-technique/ Across the Sector - Sheffield Hallam's module evaluation reset shows why local student voice still needs governance: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/sheffield-hallam-module-evaluation-local-student-voice-governance/ - OfS NSS student characteristics data adds provider typologies, but key equity splits are missing: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/ofs-nss-student-characteristics-data-provider-typologies-missing-equity-splits/ Practical Implication If module evaluation becomes more local, retain a small shared evidence framework. Record what was asked, who could respond, how the evidence was interpreted, who owns the response, and what students were told afterwards. Subscribe Subscribe to The Student Voice Weekly: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/newsletter/.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #21

  What QAA wants universities to do after NSS

  Jul 17, 20268 min

  This week, Dr Stuart Grey focuses on QAA's response to NSS 2026 and what universities need to do once the results-day headlines have passed. The episode looks at internal enhancement, weaker experiences among part-time, apprenticeship, and disabled students, the cost of taking part in student engagement, and the support student representatives need to contribute meaningfully to quality assurance. It also considers why shorter provision needs faster feedback loops. In This Episode - Why improving NSS averages should not close down the conversation about subgroup gaps. - What QAA's post-results message means for internal enhancement work. - How time, money, accessibility, and recognition shape who can participate in student voice. - Why student representatives need clear papers, briefings, mentoring, and wider survey evidence. - How short-cycle provision changes the timing of student feedback. Student Voice Practice Use NSS as the beginning of an internal quality conversation. Bring scores, subgroup patterns, and open comments together, then connect that evidence to supported student representatives and named institutional owners. When analysing comments, distinguish the student experience itself from barriers to participation and evidence about follow-through. These patterns require different actions and often belong to different teams. Research Spotlight - Student representation in quality assurance needs training, trust, and usable evidence: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/student-representation-quality-assurance-needs-training-trust-usable-evidence/ Across the Sector - QAA says NSS 2026 should drive internal student voice action, not just league tables: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/qaa-nss-2026-internal-student-voice-action/ - QAA's short-cycle course guidance says student feedback must move faster for the LLE: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/qaa-short-cycle-course-guidance-student-feedback-lle/ Practical Takeaway Bring NSS scores and comments together, check who is missing or having a weaker experience, support representatives to interpret the evidence, and record who owns the response and when students will see what changed. Subscribe Subscribe to The Student Voice Weekly: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/newsletter/.

  ListenShow Notes

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.