Student Awareness of Sustainability Embedded in the Curriculum is shown for the last 3 years in the table below.
| Response Category | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not aware | 37% | 42% | 39% |
| Aware but not engaged | 31% | 25% | 21% |
| Aware and somewhat engaged | 21% | 19% | 24% |
| Aware and very engaged | 10% | 14% | 16% |
Key Trends
- Awareness of Student Awareness of Sustainability Embedded in the Curriculum has improved overall since 2024-25, with the proportion of students who are not aware falling from 42% to 39% in 2025-26.
- The proportion of students who are aware but not engaged has steadily declined from 31% in 2023-24 to 21% in 2025-26, suggesting that awareness is increasingly translating into engagement.
- The percentage of students who are aware and somewhat engaged increased from 19% to 24% between 2024-25 and 2025-26.
- The proportion who are aware and very engaged has risen consistently, from 10% in 2023-24 to 16% in 2025-26, representing a 6 percentage point increase over the three-year period.
Summary
While around two-fifths of students remain unaware of how sustainability is embedded within their curriculum, engagement among those who are aware has strengthened over the last three years. The combined proportion of students who are somewhat or very engaged increased from 31% in 2023-24 to 40% in 2025-26, indicating growing success in embedding sustainability within the student learning experience.
What can we do to increase Student Awareness of Sustainability in the Curriculum?
1. Increased visibility of sustainability initiatives
Students can get involved in numerous sustainability activities, including carbon reduction, sustainable travel projects, wildlife and biodiversity activities, Fairtrade initiatives, and Carbon Literacy training, to name just a few. Continued promotion of these initiatives can help move students from being merely aware to becoming engaged.
2. Greater curriculum integration
The proportion of students who were very engaged with sustainability in the curriculum increased from 10% to 16% over the three years, suggesting that when sustainability is explicitly linked to teaching, assessment, placements, projects, and professional practice, students are more likely to engage deeply.
3. More practical and visible sustainability actions
Our annual surveys show strong engagement with sustainable behaviours such as using reusable containers, recycling, buying second-hand goods, and spending time in nature. Linking curriculum content to these real-world sustainability practices may have helped students see sustainability as relevant and actionable rather than purely theoretical.
4. Embedding sustainability within professional contexts
Encouraging courses to connect sustainability to employability, professional standards, industry expectations, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals will help students recognise its relevance. This helps explain the reduction in the proportion of students who were aware but not engaged, from 31% to 21%