Abstract

Our students are going through one of the most challenging periods of their lives, compounded by the after-effects of a global pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis and international uncertainty. Therefore, understanding the issues facing our students and getting them access to support as quickly and efficiently as possible is paramount.
The Predictive Analytic Dashboard (PAD) is a newly developed system highlighting students potentially at risk of withdrawing from their programme and is in the process of being rolled out to all Personal Academic Tutors (PAT), with staff becoming more familiar with its role and function over time. As part of the piloting of the PAD, we are undertaking a qualitative project funded by Health Education England, interviewing a range of students in the pre-registration BSc Nursing programmes highlighted as ‘red risk’ by the PAD. This was to firstly ascertain the reliability of the PAD, but also to delve into the reasons behind their being flagged as ‘red risk’. The insights from the students can then be used to further enhance the precision of the PAD.
PATs have a crucial role to play in a student’s journey and the success that they achieve. This exploration via the PAD has helped to ascertain some of the barriers to accessing support as well as some examples of good practice. Future PAD developments aim to highlight the most at-risk students allowing for rapid intervention and to safeguard their mental health and wellbeing.