Chapter 10: Finding Home Away From Home: Exploring Postgraduate Students’ Sense of Belonging at a UK University

A higher sense of belonging has been shown to be associated with general well-being among students, and its benefits range from academic achievement to career success in their lives. However, most studies focused on the undergraduate students’ transition from school to university, demonstrating a lack of insight into postgraduate students returning to university. This small-scale qualitative study explored the experiences of postgraduate students who returned to university to undertake a Master’s degree programme in Psychology. The study examined the factors that influence their sense of belonging and well-being. Our survey (n = 8) and interview data (n = 4) showed that the postgraduate students adapted well to the university and to the programme of study as a whole and, in general, demonstrated good well-being. However, these students had very specific needs that stemmed from their previous academic and personal backgrounds, which require more institutional support systems to be in place. In a nutshell, our findings demonstrate the need to provide an inclusive student support system to ensure that all the different groups of students’ needs are catered for.