Research
Insight shaped by student voices
Investor in Students’ research draws on five years of large-scale student insight, including hundreds of thousands of survey responses and millions of lines of free-text feedback.
By combining quantitative data with deep qualitative analysis, our research explores how students experience life in accommodation, what shapes that experience, and how it is evolving across the sector.
Our Research
Drawing on five years of student insights
IIS Insights | Issue 1
One size doesn’t fit all
Our first Insights issue explores what students value most in accommodation today. It highlights how members can use experience data to drive meaningful improvement across the student living journey.
IIS Insights | Issue 2
Balancing budget & bliss
This paper looks at how student experience differs across groups, accommodation types and expectations. It helps members understand where gaps emerge and where change can have the greatest impact.
IIS Insights | Issue 3
Do sweat the small stuff
The 2025 White Paper brings together five years of student feedback and insight. It outlines the key trends shaping accommodation experience and what they mean for providers.
RES Insights | Issue 1
Raising the standard
Raising the Standard introduces the Residential Experience Standard (RES) for Australia and New Zealand. It sets out how accreditation supports safer, stronger student communities through shared benchmarking.
Working with Investors in Students has provided us with invaluable insight into our student experience. Their surveys have helped us better understand the needs, expectations, and priorities of our students, enabling us to make more informed decisions and drive meaningful improvements"
Ashley Jones
National Head of Operations
Investor in Students has been a brilliant partner in helping us better understand and enhance the student experience in our accommodation. The team are knowledgeable, supportive, and a pleasure to work with, and the volume and quality of feedback and analysis they provide is outstanding."
Joe Lay
Director of Accommodation
it’s the ongoing support that really sets IIS apart. Every step of the journey feels collaborative, thoughtful and focused on outcomes — and the speed at which the team turns around insights makes it so much easier to act quickly and with confidence.”
Laura Palmour
Associate Director of Residences
The benchmarking helped us recognise where we were leading, and where to focus next. What makes IIS so valuable is the hands-on, high-touch support — from personalised insight reports to collaborative action planning, the team are truly invested in helping us raise the bar every year.”
Einita Suman
Director of Accommodation and Operations
Investor in Students has become an important part of how we assure and improve the student experience across our residences. Benchmarking adds an extra layer of assurance, showing how our students’ experience compares across the sector and helping us prioritise investment and resource with clarity.”
Viki Welch
Associate Director of Student Living
For us, IIS provides an independent, credible way to evidence the value we deliver for our stakeholders. The insight goes far beyond satisfaction scores — it gives us a clear, data-led view of how students experience our service, where we’re adding the most value, and where targeted improvements will have the greatest impact"
David Chadderton
CMO
As we’ve evolved our business and started building out our next portfolio, IIS has played a key role in shaping how we think about student experience from the outset. The data helps us move beyond assumptions and design experiences that genuinely reflect what students value — not just what we think they want."
Laura Kurt
Managing Director
What really stands out about IIS is how accessible and practical the insight is. The dashboards make it easy to explore the data in real time, track performance and quickly understand what’s driving student sentiment across different areas of the business."
Paul Watson
Managing Director
Download our white paper
Ready to better understand the student living experience you’re delivering?
Join a growing community of accommodation providers using evidence and shared learning to improve the student living experience.