Supporting Commuter Students in UK Higher Education: Opportunities to Enhance Policy and Practice

Commuter students represent a significant, yet often overlooked, demographic within English higher education (HE). Historically, national policy and institutional practice have failed to adequately acknowledge distinct challenges they face. Using a novel participatory mapping activity, and focus group discussions with 19 commuter students, this paper identifies how commuters are excluded by dominant models of university participation. We examine students’ interactions with campus, peers and staff. Findings reveal how structural norms—such as attendance expectations, financial support, and spatial assumptions—can marginalise learners who do not follow the residential model. Participants described feeling peripheral to university life, with their legitimacy as students sometimes questioned. Nonetheless, they demonstrated agency in navigating challenges, using commuting time and home environments as productive learning spaces. We identify seven areas where enhancements might be made. By reframing commuting not as a deficit, but a valid mode of engagement, institutions might better support underrepresented students and promote equity in HE.