Anshika is a BSc Psychology student at the University of Manchester and a student representative involved in academic and student-facing work within the University. She has held leadership roles across youth-led policy and advocacy spaces, including Operative Director at Project Adhikaar and Regional Head at Altior Group. She has chaired and served on the secretariat of national and international Model United Nations conferences and has been recognised for her work on prominent platforms, including TEDx. Her interests lie in psychology, mental health advocacy, and public policy, with a focus on impact-driven, student-led initiatives.

When I stepped into the “How to Best Analyse Feedback” workshop hosted by my programme team with Student Change Lab, I expected a standard training session. Instead, it became one of the most grounded and genuinely insightful afternoons I have had as a Rep. The room felt open and collaborative from the start and the facilitators, Chiachi Ming and Iria Lopez, created an atmosphere that encouraged honest reflection.

We opened with a short icebreaker that seemed simple but proved surprisingly thoughtful. In pairs, we explored everyday scenarios such as long commutes or noisy study spaces and discussed how a person in that moment might feel, what they might need, and what the root cause could be. It reminded me that feedback is not just a comment. It carries emotion, impact, and a context that shapes the student’s experience.

Our first group discussion focused on how our roles as Reps have been so far. Listening to others speak about their experiences with engagement and coordination made me realise how shared our challenges really are. Collecting feedback is easy. Making sense of it takes real work. The facilitators highlighted something we often forget. Numbers show scale but qualitative feedback reveals reasons. Summarising comments is not the same as analysing them and the difference matters.

The main structure of the workshop centred on a clear method for breaking down feedback. We began by clustering comments into themes. Seeing issues grouped together helped patterns emerge that we usually miss when dealing with feedback one piece at a time. After that, we sorted the comments into three categories. Straightforward. Lacking details. Or detailed enough to analyse. This alone reshaped how I think about organising my reports. Some issues require investigation. Others simply need acknowledgment.

The “why-why-why” tool was the most eye-opening part of the session. By repeatedly asking “why”, we uncovered root causes that usually stay hidden. A complaint about the lack of formative assessments, for example, might reflect deeper concerns about

workload, communication, or pacing across the semester. The tool felt unusual at first, yet it revealed layers beneath the surface that students rarely articulate.

After the break, we used a structured template to build Student Need Statements. Setting out the situation, emotional impact, and the specific need made feedback clearer and more actionable. It shifted the tone from frustration to purpose. That shift changed the way I see student concerns.

We closed by reviewing “straightforward” feedback to check whether any underlying needs were being overlooked. Students often propose solutions without naming the actual problem. A request for lecture breaks, for instance, might be linked to attention difficulties or a need for more engaging delivery. Once you understand the need, you can communicate it more effectively to staff.

The final reflection brought everything together. The workshop made the process of analysing feedback feel far more structured and far less overwhelming. I left with a clearer sense of how to translate scattered comments into insights that matter.

Overall, the session offered depth, clarity, and a genuine sense of collaboration. It reminded me that feedback is not noise. It is a story. And if we take the time to unpack it, we can turn it into meaningful change.

The Student Change Lab is a collaborative space where students and staff work together to explore how human-centred design approach and tool can implement meaningful improvements in teaching and learning, especially in the student voice and engagement. Through co-creation, experimentation, dialogues and skill trainings, our lab aims to empower students and staff to shape educational experience and drive positive outcomes across the university.

Want to know more about the project? Have a look on Student Change Lab (SCL)! Or join our LinkedIn group to hear updates.

Test and learn #2: Can academic reps use HCD tools to analyse feedback from their peers?  In this blog an Academic Rep shares their thoughts on the process:

Further reading:

• Test and Learn #1: Learning & Co-design to Unlock our Reps’ Creativity

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