Student Expert Panel
The Student Expert Panel was created in November 2019 as part of one of the key strategic projects outlined in our Access and Participation Plan. The creation of the Panel was a means to strengthen our commitment to move from a culture of consultation through to true partnership, developing a more systematic approach to listening to student stories.
The University of York has a strong culture of representing student voices across all areas of the institution and all stages of the student lifecycle. As a university, we understand the importance of giving our students a voice and acknowledge that if we have a better understanding of the lived experiences of different groups of students we will be better placed to create more effective mechanisms to try to tackle existing inequalities.
What is the Student Expert Panel?
The Student Expert Panel is a collaboration between the University and the University of York Students' Union.
The Panel is made up of around 20 undergraduate, postgraduate, home and international students from a diverse range of backgrounds and is an important source of advice and challenge for the University as a whole, but particularly in relation to its access and participation and EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) work.
The Panel acts as a ready-made, diverse focus group, but is also proactive in the creation of its own priorities and projects, for example the Middle Ground series of events.
What can the Student Expert Panel do for staff?
The Student Expert Panel is able to provide student insight to colleagues across the University when developing new initiatives, and reflecting upon or evaluating existing interventions. By engaging with the Panel you will be better able to ensure that diverse student interests and views are considered in your decision-making and day to day work.
What has the Student Expert Panel been up to?
In 2025-26, the Student Expert Panel has been consulted by:
- Accommodation
- Consultation on a new Student Voice page
- Postgraduate & International Communities Team, Student Hub
- The Student Union web site
- The York Strategy refresh
- The new Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy
- HE Essentials Guide - Library
- The Digital Education Team + Reading List and Digital Accessibility
- The Network team.
They have also had a stand at the Mental Health Awareness week and created Virtual Trails on the following themes for other students to explore:
- Inductions and transitions
- Cost of living and food poverty
- Disability inclusion
- Learning, teaching and assessment
- Community and belonging
Many teams across the university participated in the 'reverse consultation' where students presented back to staff what they curated on the above topics and what they felt was missing.
See also previous activities.
Feedback
Members of staff who've worked with the Student Expert Panel to develop their projects, as well as current and former panellists, have provided feedback which gives useful insight into how the Panel operates and examples of some of the improvements introduced with support from the Panel.