The Challenge

The organisation recognised that becoming genuinely student-centred required more than periodic surveys. While pockets of feedback existed, listening was fragmented, slow, and difficult to turn into action.

Key challenges included:

• Very limited internal research and surveying capability

• Infrequent surveys with low response rates

• Long turnaround times for analysis and reporting

• Feedback that focused on metrics rather than actionable insight

• No consistent way to capture experience across the full student lifecycle

• Limited ability to integrate survey insight with broader data and performance reporting

As expectations increased from executives, regulators, and students themselves, the organisation needed a step-change in how it listened, learned, and responded.

The Goal

The objective was to design and begin implementing a scalable Student and Employer Listening capability that would:

• Provide timely, actionable insight across the student lifecycle

• Support quality, experience, and performance improvement

• Enable both structured and open feedback

• Integrate with existing data and reporting capabilities

• Balance rigour, speed, and governance

Crucially, the solution needed to be practical and deliverable, not a long-term theoretical design.

Our Approach

We partnered closely with strategy, performance, quality, education delivery, and digital teams, acting as an expert advisor and hands-on partner.

The work was delivered in three tightly connected streams.

1. Listening Capability Discovery

We conducted a structured review of existing surveying, research, tools, and processes, supported by stakeholder engagement across the organisation.

This surfaced:

• Clear gaps in capability, resourcing, and tooling

• Strong demand for faster, more relevant insight

• Opportunities to centralise listening and integrate it with performance reporting

• A clear need to shift from “surveying” to ongoing listening 

This phase created a shared, evidence-based understanding of what needed to change

2. Survey Program Design

Based on discovery findings, we designed a coherent listening framework anchored around three complementary survey programs:

• Teaching and Learning Evaluation

Standardised, event-triggered feedback aligned to key moments in the learning journey.

• Student and Employer Experience Surveys

Targeted surveys aligned to critical lifecycle stages to capture experience, drivers, and priorities.

• “Always On” Feedback

A simple, accessible channel for open feedback, enabling early issue detection and closed-loop follow-up.

Each program was designed to:

• Deliver actionable insight rather than static metrics

• Be scalable and repeatable

• Respect privacy and governance requirements

• Integrate with reporting and insight processes

3. Pilot Design and Delivery

Rather than waiting for a perfect end-state, we supported the organisation to pilot and learn.

This included:

• Designing and launching pilots for new survey programs

• Testing event-triggered and open feedback approaches

• Developing reporting and analysis patterns to support insight activation

• Establishing lightweight triage and follow-up processes

Pilots were deliberately structured to:

• Reduce delivery risk

• Generate early value

• Inform future platform and capability decisions .

The Solution

The engagement delivered a listening capability foundation, including:

• A clear listening strategy aligned to organisational goals

• Defined survey programs mapped to the student lifecycle

• Practical guidance on research methods, governance, and analysis

• Live pilots demonstrating how listening could work in practice

• Integration points with performance reporting and insight teams

The focus was not just on collecting feedback, but on closing the loop and enabling action.

Results & Impact

The work delivered several important outcomes:

• A shared, organisation-wide view of how listening should work

• Increased confidence in using feedback to guide decisions

• Faster, more relevant insight for quality and experience improvement

• Reduced reliance on ad hoc or manual survey processes

• A clear pathway from pilot activity to scaled capability

Most importantly, the organisation moved from periodic feedback collection to a continuous listening mindset.

Key Takeaway

Listening is a capability, not a survey.

By designing listening as an integrated, ongoing function (supported by clear processes, governance, and pilots), organisations can turn feedback into meaningful, timely action.