Who are today’s commuter students? The data might surprise you

Advance HE has published the findings from Wave 1 of its study into students' pre-arrival experiences of higher education.

AMOSSHE’s Dr Emma Maslin, Senior Policy and Research Officer, sits on the working group for the project. In this blog, she unpicks what the new data tells us about commuter students, and how the findings can inform the practice of Student Services professionals for the 2026-27 academic year.

Setting the scene

The phrase ‘commuter student’ is uttered in the UK higher education sector more than ever before. Back in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living crisis brought about a reframing of what it meant to be a student. Students who historically may have moved miles away to attend university were staying in the family home for remote study, due to social distancing restrictions. Increases to living costs, which have continued into 2026, have created a landscape where commuting to university is an increasingly favoured option for undergraduate students.

I pause here because some of you reading may well be rolling your eyes at this introduction. Many student services professionals will know that students commuting to university is not a new phenomenon. For many higher education providers, commuter students have always existed. In some cases they’ve made up a large proportion of the student population; a notion at odds with the view of commuter students as the minority few which continues to permeate sector conversations.

This student group isn’t new to the English regulator for higher education either. Way back in 2019, the Office for Students hosted an event on local and commuter students, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for providers. In 2023, the regulator introduced the EORR (Equality of Opportunity Risk Register), which highlighted commuter students as a group likely to experience limited course choice, insufficient academic and personal support and increased cost pressures during their time at university.

As part of its Equality in Higher Education Innovation Fund, the Office for Students has funded 11 projects which aim to deliver new and innovative ideas to promote equality of opportunity in higher education. Advance HE, the University of East London and Jisc have designed a national pre-arrival survey for new undergraduate and postgraduate students across selected higher education providers in England. The pilot aims to understand students’ experiences and pre-conceptions of university life during their transition into higher education. The questions gather information about their prior education, expectations of university life, the wider student experience, and more. The survey responses are designed to equip universities with information which can be utilised to ease the transition to, and better support students in, higher education.

The pilot survey has already produced interesting findings about incoming students who plan to commute during their studies. Some findings will be familiar to those working with commuter students. For others, the findings may surprise or challenge previous assumptions about this student group.

‘But who are commuter students?’ I hear you cry. In this survey, a commuter student is defined as having to travel 60 minutes or more between their intended term-time address and place of study. Recently commissioned research by the Office for Students into commuter students has further analysed how different definitions of this student group based on time, distance, living arrangement and cost can impact the typology of students captured, and the subsequent challenges faced. The data I touch on below focuses on the undergraduate student population only, although much of what I highlight will be transferable to the postgraduate student experience as well.

Old news

Many of the findings from Wave 1 of the pilot pre-arrival questionnaire survey relating to commuter students have reaffirmed what many of us already knew.

Firstly, that being a student parent or carer means you are more likely to be a commuter student. These students were more likely to be concerned about affordable childcare and fitting study around family commitments. Naturally, commuting to university is a way in which to mitigate family and caring responsibilities alongside further study.

Recent research from academics at the University of Lancashire and Wonkhe has demonstrated a link between students commuting while undertaking part-time work. The findings from this study echo these results, with commuter students more likely than their non-commuting peers to plan to work part-time for 16 or more hours a week on top of their studies.

Commuter students will often weigh up the benefit of attending classes in relation to the effort and monetary cost it takes to travel to campus. For those who skip classes, this can have a direct impact on their degree progression and success. 10% of the commuters in the pilot study were commuting over 2 hours one way to get to their place of study. 22% of commuters were travelling between 1.5 and 2 hours each way, with the remainder taking between 60 and 90 minutes per journey. This is because the cut-off for being classed as a commuter student in this study was a travel time of 60 minutes or more one-way. Nevertheless, it highlights that many students undertake significant travel before starting classes for the day.

What’s new?

Wave 1 of the pilot survey does offer some interesting findings that haven’t been documented within the usual commuter student discourse. Black and Black British students made up 20% of the commuter population. Historically, research in this area has often linked Asian communities with student intentions to commute, yet in this survey Asian and Asian British students made up an equal 20% of the population. Students intending to commute were also more likely to not have English as their first language and more likely to have received free school meals in their prior schooling than non-commuters. This data allows us to get a sense of the demographic profile of potential commuter students, to help us understand the types of students that might be commuting during their time at university.

Commuter students were less likely than their non-commuting peers to be funding their studies through savings and/or financial support from parents or guardians. These statistics are likely to be heavily influenced by the proportion of student parents and carers, plus mature students who commute, but also speaks to the increasing role of part-time employment in financing university study.

93% of students intending to commute were UK Home-domiciled, meaning 7% were international students who planned to commute for one hour or more for their degree course. International students coming to a new country without ready-made peer networks from university-owned accommodation may face additional challenges to immerse themselves in university life if they are travelling a significant distance to get to university. This finding challenges the assumption that a commuter student is an individual living in their family home, illuminating just some of the diversity that exists within the commuter student population.

Evidence-backed inclusion

Institutions that have employed the pre-arrival questionnaire this year have actionable data they can use to streamline the transition to university for incoming students. In the case of commuter students, they have what some might describe as ‘the holy grail’; a workable definition for commuter students with data which can be benchmarked across other providers in the sector.

The recent Office for Students’ report demonstrates the nuances of defining ‘commuter students’. In the absence of a sector definition, simply deciding on and operationalising a definition to understand your commuter student population is a good place to start. A definition means you can identify who they are, and commonalities within their demographic profile.

Importantly, having a definition in place means you have a contactable student group to ask about their experiences and what the provider could do to ensure they thrive at university.

I would offer some caution, though, in not getting too attached to any definition you pick. The fact that the Office for Students has commissioned research in this area would suggest to me that the regulator may well be thinking about establishing a universal definition for this student group in the not-too-distant future.

There are some brilliant higher education providers out there who already offer a tailored programme and/or specific facilities for commuter students. In my experience, professionals in this space are always more than happy to share information about their work.

AMOSSHE members can use our Discussion groups to reach out to members, or suggest this topic as an agenda item for one of our online monthly member discussions to explore the issues surrounding commuter students further.