University of Bedfordshire is proud of its vibrant and cosmopolitan student population, consisting of around 20,000 students from over 100 countries. There are two main campuses in Luton and Bedford, South East England, with a large health teaching provision at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury. 
A modern university that believes in nurturing their students to become educated, employable and entrepreneurial global citizens, more than 40% of students are first-in-family, 70% mature learners and over 50% are from Black or ethnic minority backgrounds. In 2021 they were named by the Sutton Trust as one of England’s Top 25 universities to have successfully contributed to an increase in social mobility amongst disadvantaged young people in England.
With significant financial and social contributions both locally and regionally, in 2021 they were named one of the top universities in the UK for producing graduate start-ups, and their commitment to sustainability has been recognised with an EcoCampus Platinum award for two years running.
Why Studiosity?
Dr David Pike, Head of Digital Learning Systems, University of Bedfordshire shares why they have partnered with Studiosity to support their students with academic writing. Watch the video (04:54):
“...it's getting them to look at what they're writing, how they're writing, and how they can improve. But we wanted to do that on the university-wide scale because again, going back to the idea it's a widening participation institution, we want to do everything we possibly can to help our students achieve and do better and be better.”
Outcomes:
University of Bedfordshire ran an initial pilot during the 2020/21 academic year with their Applied Social Science students who tend to have the most difficulty transitioning into university, and also need to do a lot of writing within their course. The pilot was a success, and with the rich data evidence gathered from the pilot, they were easily able to justify an institutional-wide partnership for the 2021/22 academic year.
In February 2024:
"All University of Bedfordshire students will now have access to Studiosity's ethical AI for learning service for immediate academic feedback."
"The opportunity to introduce equality of access was a core feature of the University’s Widening Participation approach and Studiosity+ offered an opportunity for all students to receive feedback faster, to have all areas of their academic writing examined for opportunities to improve their own work, and to allow students beyond the confines of the UK to access to the service and receive support 24/7.”
During our 2022 Annual Partner Forum, Dr Pike shared key early insights from his peer review research, since published in ALT, on how University of Bedfordshire students are seeking academic writing help, and crucially how this knowledge will be used to inform key pedagogical changes to ensure students seek timely help, in order to achieve student success. Watch the video (35:26):
