This ALDinHE Take 5 post comes from Leeds’ Paul Cave and Angela Newton reflecting on ten years of the paradigmatic Flying Start resource. Many of us in the LD community have viewed this Leeds ‘Welcome’ resource as a leader in the field and we are really happy to get this insider look at how it came about – and to see what we can learn from the originators of this wonderful resource.
10 years of Flying Start: what have we learned about transition to university and where next?
Transition to studying at university can be both daunting and exciting in equal measure. Everything might feel unfamiliar to new undergraduates, from the etiquette of communicating with staff, through to the VLE system and using a reading list. Even the terminology of learning may feel strange; what is a ‘tutorial’? Is a ‘lecturer’ different to an ‘academic’? What’s the difference between ‘formative’ and ‘summative’ assessment? All of these questions coexist alongside the huge adjustment that most (but not all) students experience, of living in a new city, often independently for the first time and with strangers.
In 2015 we launched the Flying Start website at the University of Leeds designed for prospective, pre-arrival and new undergraduate students entering their first year. Due to its success, Flying Start became the template for a series of very popular similar resources at Leeds. This blog post reflects on Flying Start, where we are ten years later and our future plans.
Our respective roles in this project were Paul: technology and design, and Angela: pedagogy and content. Bringing our expertise and enthusiasm together enabled us to work iteratively, Angela providing a content framework and Paul interpreting that with his own creative flair and expertise. As we both enjoy working collaboratively, it’s fair to say that we found the process fun and very motivating.
Design and ethos
In designing the content, we considered the audience carefully, conducting student surveys and consulting existing literature for insights into what might work well. We settled on a mix of text, video, images and student advice – the student voice is a particularly valuable aspect of the website and has become a trademark of our other family of resources. In addition, we conducted user testing of the site to gain feedback from our students.
After Paul’s thorough investigation of available technologies, we settled on creating a bespoke website utilising the Bootstrap HTML, CSS and JS library. This approach meant that we could ensure easy access for pre-sessional students who had not yet received Leeds accounts, usernames and passwords; provide a robust and reliable platform which could easily be maintained; and deliver an engaging and accessible resource for students. This ethos remains true 10 years later, as student feedback for Flying Start consistently shows that pre-arrival students appreciate this opportunity to gain insights into the university experience:
“It is a good insight into what i should expect my journey at university to be like. I particularly liked the first year section as it has given me an understanding of how different learning is at university compared to at college.”
Academic literacies are at the heart of this resource and much of it might be as part of the ‘hidden curriculum’: those often-undiscussed assumptions that can leave the uninitiated confused and alienated when they come up against them. Integrating the student voice into Flying Start has really helped to put these kinds of messages across in an approachable way as can be seen in this example:
“In comparison to school the studying methods at university are more practical and research oriented which involve the student more in the learning experience hence the whole teaching process produces a better understanding of the subject under study.” Student, Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
The resource has four main sections:
- The first year
- Independent learning
- Getting down to work and
- Taking it further.
The aim is to give a broad brush overview of some of the key learning experiences that students will have that might be different from their previous studies. The resource covers referencing from a principles perspective for example, but not the nuts and bolts of that process, given that at this stage, students don’t need to be overloaded with those details.
In countering the hidden curriculum, Flying Start offers students succinct perspectives and advice on topics ranging from making the most of lectures, through to tackling your first assessment. All of this with a prominent student voice in the form of videos and, in the near future, a series of podcasts.
The resource is promoted to prospective students at our campus Open Days, incoming students are also signposted to it in emails and communications when they accept their place and then once on campus, the Library uses social media, stands at welcome events and electronic display screens to spread awareness.
Usage figures for the resource have varied according to circumstances; the pandemic for example boosted numbers of students looking for online support. Usage continues to be excellent in these postpivot days: In semester 1 2024-25, Flying Start had just over 7,300 views
Initially, a series of short 30-minute workshops were also offered to students in week 0 and week 1. Also branded Flying Start, these covered referencing, managing your time in semester one and making the most of lectures. In 2020 however, COVID-19 intervened to stop these in-person events, and we have instead now moved to a more informal ‘fair’ in week 0 which serves to welcome students instead. The fair consists of a drop-in event showcasing all aspects of the Skills@Library service including, Maths and Statistics support, co-curricular workshops and our Makerspace. Students are directed to our Flying Start resource via flyers and our very popular Flying Start branded A2 academic wall planners.
Welcome and transition at Leeds
The COVID-19 pandemic not only changed our approach to teaching, however, but accelerated the changes that the university was already making to our approach to transition on a much wider scale. Instead of treating transition as a semester one activity at Leeds, it is now regarded as being a thread throughout the first year. This more measured approach was brought in as a result of a high level University-wide Welcome and Transition project which encourages less intensive front-loading of information and instead, timely repetition of key messages throughout the year. A Fresh Start Festival for example, now takes place each January and provides opportunities for students to re-engage with services such as Skills@Library with promotional events, drop-ins etc, coordinated by the Students Union. Whilst Flying Start takes a less prominent role in semester 2, Skills@Library work with internal marketing teams to raise awareness of specific academic literacies resources which may be more useful as the first year progresses.
Student reception
Student feedback for Flying Start indicates that prospective and incoming students are looking for guidance and reassurance on a range of issues:
“University Terminology list was very helpful. I did not know there was a difference between a lecture and a seminar before reading that.”
“It is a good insight into what i should expect my journey at university to be like. I particularly liked the first year section as it has given me an understanding of how different learning is at university compared to at college.”
“It helped me feel prepared, and gave me a mental checklist of things to be aware of going into my first year of University.”
Flying Start is a key part of the University strategy for welcoming new first year students. It forms part of the communications which are sent out to all incoming first years for example, not just once, but at intervals according to the communications schedule. This embedding ensures that students have the opportunity to interact with the resource in a timely fashion.
Flying Start developments, 2025
With such a large student population at Leeds, transition continues to be an enjoyable challenge. Looking forward, we’re reviewing the content of Flying Start in the light of the explosion of GenAI use in education. Rather than electing to create a new section which addresses this, approaches to GenAI use will instead be peppered throughout appropriate areas of the resource. A new addition to the content is also taking shape in the form of a series of short podcasts featuring Leeds students discussing a range of relevant topics. If successful, these may be expanded or built upon for different student audiences in future.
Recommendations for your practice
Every university has its own approaches to transition and Flying Start forms part of a much wider ethos of extended transition at Leeds. If you’re considering a refresh to your transition to university offer, we offer some suggestions to take this forward:
- What’s happening institution-wide? Connect with the committees, groups and individuals who may be useful to work with.
- Identify existing good practice in your institution and work with it. If an event or scheme already has momentum, you may be able to tie your provision to it.
- Clearly articulate what you would like to do and why. Making a case for your initiative will be important, especially if you need to argue for additional resources to get started.
- What do students think? Get input or feedback from students at the planning stage and use their intel to build something genuinely useful.
- Get your comms and marketing teams on board to help you to get the word out. The first semester is exceptionally busy, and doing this in advance is critical.
- Want to chat? Do get in touch if you’d like to find out more about our Flying Start resource.
Author profiles
Angela Newton is a Learning Advisor at The University of Leeds. She works closely with academic colleagues to create rich learning experiences for students in the areas of academic literacies and object-based learning. Find out more about Angela’s work online: https://library.leeds.ac.uk/staff/19/angela-newton
Paul Cave is currently Head of IT for Professional Services at the University of Leeds, working in partnership with Student Education and Experience and the Library to enhance the technology landscape and support an optimal experience for staff and students. Flying Start was the first resource he developed in a previous role as a learning technologist based in the Library.
