Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

The Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCA) is the only Higher Education awards ceremony in the UK where institutions are solely judged and reviewed by students themselves across a variety of categories. 

Our annual event is a celebration of the student voice and the hard work of higher education providers across the UK to deliver exceptional students experiences.  

Tickets are now available to book for the 2023 Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCA) on Wednesday 26 April 2023 at The Brewery, London. 

The sector-leading event will, once again, be in-person as we celebrate and recognise the hard work of universities up and down the country. Each year, our review collectors collate tens of thousands of verified reviews submitted by students themselves from institutions around the UK. 

A great number of universities across the UK have already participated in giving their students a chance to share what they value the most about where they are studying to amplify the student voice. These reviews serve as an important vote of confidence for many institutions and the winners of each category will be announced at this glamourous annual awards ceremony. 

Please be sure to secure you tickets early to avoid disappointment. 

EMAIL US FOR TICKETS NOW

Once confirmed, we will email you directly to verify all delegate details, including dietaries.

Insight Day – Pre WUSCA-Insights Event 

Hosted on the same day as the WUSCA, and at a nearby location soon to be confirmed, our Insight Day event will showcase detailed insights into 2023 Whatuni student reviews, key data trends and best practices for the UK higher education sector. Please see below for the event agenda.

Ticket type - Institution/Charity

Ticket type - Agency/Corporate

*A 10% discount will be added if you buy ticket/s for both the Insight Day conference and the WUSCA awards evening

**Insight day tickets include breakfast, lunch and beverages

***WUSCA awards evening tickets include a 3 course dinner with drinks included (limited to half a bottle of alcoholic beverage or equivalent)

Ticket Terms and Conditions can be found here

10.00 - 10.15: Welcome and introductions Presented by Aaron Porter, IDP Connect

10.15 - 11.00: Reviewing reviews – What are this year’s reviews telling us and what action can you take? Presented by Camilla King and Ben Farquharson, IDP Connect

11.00 – 11.45: Connecting the dots – Tracking recruitment outcomes across multiple data sources Presented by Jon Montgomerie and another speaker to be confirmed

11.45 – 12.15: Networking break

12:15 – 13:00: Understanding generation Z through data, what does the data tell us about how generation Z are making their university decisions? Presented by Amandeep Aulakh and Ingrid Daujoti, IDP Connect and another speaker to be confirmed

13:00 - 14:00: Lunch

14:00 – 14:45: Whatuni student panel – An interactive discussion on student motivations and what matters most in HE decision-making Presented by the Whatuni student panel

14:45 - 15:30: Running up that bill – How the cost of living crisis is impacting applicant preferences Presented by the Department of Education and Jonah Duffin, IDP Connect

15:30 – 16:15: The future of UK university recruitment Presented by Kieron Broadhead, Executive Director of Student Experience and Campus Life at University of Southampton

16:15 – 16:30: Closing summary Presented by Aaron Porter, IDP Connect

A reminder of our 2022 event above

The review collection team will be visiting campuses around the UK between October 2022 and February 2023 to collect verified reviews submitted by current students about their higher education experience. 

You can also reach threshold for your institution, by using the 2023 QR digital review collection code available in the assets link here. Download our latest 2023 guidebook and book your campus visit here.

To discuss sponsorship opportunities for 2023 during the event and get in front of website users across IDP Connect’s student-facing websites, please contact Kevin McEwan at kevin.mcewan@idp.com.

2023 categories are as follows:

• Lecturers and teaching quality

• Halls and student accommodation

• Student support

• Facilities

• Student’ union

• Student life

• Career prospects

• International

• Postgraduate – sponsored by HAVAS EDUCATION

• Submission-based award

• Small or specialist

• University of the year

Read full terms and conditions for 2023 WUSCA here.

Following the announcement of the 2023 WUSCA tickets on sale, we are pleased to announce that entries for the WUSCA Submission Awards for 2023 are now open.  

2023 Submission Award Theme: Cost of Living

This year we will be looking for entries from institutions going above and beyond in supporting students through the cost-of-living crisis.  

Judges will be looking for bold and innovative initiatives that provided tangible assistance to students across the 2022/2023 academic year. They will be looking for examples of work that either aided a specific group of students with targeted support or positively impacted the wider student population. 

As always, the submission-based award will be judged by a Whatuni student panel and will be made up of both prospective and current university students. 

1. How did your institution work to identify the specific needs of students in relation to the Cost of Living crisis. If your entry is about work with a specific group of students, how did you establish this particular need?

2. What was the process you undertook to determine your objectives and to design the initiative or support programme and how where students involved in this process?

3. How are you evaluating the success of the work and what are the results?

Each entry submission should be submitted as a pdf attachment via the Wusca.submissions@idp.com email address and must contain as a minimum the following:

A maximum of 300 words answering the Submission Award category questions set out above

1 logo of the applicant institution in a high-resolution EPS/PNG format (or other format agreed with IDPC)

A minimum of 1 piece of visual evidence in support of your answers i.e. video or photos plus optionally any additional creative or reporting evidence, examples include: a campaign URL, campaign stills, videos of project outcomes, a status report etc. Although 1 piece is the minimum requirement, it is recommended that institutions provide as much evidence and collateral as possible, to properly bring their endeavours to life. For large files please provide a link where possible, eg. Youtube links instead of downloaded formats. (Please make sure it is not a temporary link).

Submissions are now open until midnight on 24 February 2023. 

Submit your entries to wuscas.submissions@idp.com 

*Please note, any document submissions must be provided as a PDF file. This includes file and video links where possible instead of download formats. If links cannot be inserted for these types of collateral, please ensure you specify deadlines for any download file sharing services used e.g. We Transfer.  

Institutions must meet the eligibility criteria and exceed the review threshold for the University category to be considered for the submission award category.  

Consider how your university identified specific student needs related to the cost-of-living crisis and how these students were supported. Underline the process you undertook to determine your objectives, what steps you took to achieve these goals and how students were involved in the process. 

Full terms and conditions can be found here.