In an updated survey on student contact hours, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) publishes today (7 May) new research which reveals that while there may have been a small increase in the amount of private study that students undertake - and there has been an increase in the number of lessons taught in the small groups (6 students or fewer) - there has been no statistically significant increase in the amount of formal contact that students have with academic staff (lectures, seminars and formal laboratory sessions).

The baseline for HEPI's 2009 survey was HEPI's ground-breaking research on the student academic experience (published in 2006 and repeated again in 2007) which sought to determine whether the amount of provision universities make for their students increased in line with the income they receive from students by way of fees. The 2006 and 2007 HEPI surveys of 15,000 students each year asked about aspects of their academic experience. Among the findings were:

• There are significant differences between subjects in the number of hours of contact that students have with academic staff.
• Similar differences also exist in the total number of hours that students devote to their study (both formal contact and private study).
• Within a subject both contact hours and total study hours differed greatly between universities.

It was not possible to come to any conclusions about the quality of provision as a result of these variations, but the differences in the amount of time needed to obtain a degree raised questions about the comparability of standards, and more generally about what it means to have a degree from an English university.

In the 2007 survey HEPI attempted to compare the amount of time that students devote to their study in this country compared to others, and concluded tentatively that not only were our degrees shorter, but also that students devoted less time each day to studying than those elsewhere in Europe. A report published by HEFCE on 27 April 2009 provided independent confirmation of these findings, concluding that "The results of these studies support the conclusions of the HEPI report and add to the body of evidence that UK students commit fewer hours to study than students in other European countries."

Commenting on the 2009 survey, Bahram Bekhradnia said: "In HEPI's view, it is a matter for regret that the response to these earlier findings from those national bodies whose remit covers these matters has largely been to avoid the issues, rather than to investigate them as HEPI had hoped. However, there are a number of very positive developments over the previous surveys. Whereas the national bodies do not appear to have responded to the issues raised by the earlier surveys (with the exception of HEFCE with the publication of its April 2009 report), individual universities have done so. An encouraging number of universities have requested the raw data of the previous HEPI surveys, to enable them to compare themselves with others. And there are indications that universities are addressing the question of their commitment to students about how much teaching they receive, who will teach them and how much will be expected of them. It is also excellent that universities are beginning to be explicit about these things in their prospectuses and in the other information they provide to students and prospective students. And if it is possible for some universities to provide this information then there is no reason why all should not - that is a matter of good practice."