A new report presenting strategic insights from leaders across French higher education institutions on enhancing teaching effectiveness and optimising the student experience has been published by Explorance.
Driving standards, supporting outcomes highlights how universities, business schools, and other specialist institutes are embedding student feedback into institutional decision-making, curriculum development, and quality assurance practices.
The report was officially launched at the Explorance French Europe Summit 2025, held in Paris on 2nd October. Key themes/findings include:
- Strategic drivers: Internal goals like continuous improvement and pedagogical innovation intersect with external pressures such as national regulatory standards, accreditation requirements, and global rankings. Institutions are increasingly aligning educational quality with student outcomes.
- Student voice and feedback: French institutions are making deliberate efforts to embed student perspectives into program design, teaching evaluation, and governance structures. Participatory practices, such as surveys, focus groups, and councils, are central mechanisms for fostering engagement and quality dialogue.
- Quality assurance and accreditation: Evaluations are evolving beyond compliance tools to become instruments for continuous improvement. French universities are using feedback to inform curriculum reform, teaching practices, and to meet stringent demands from the High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES) and other bodies.
- Challenges in feedback systems: While the ecosystem of surveys is robust, institutions face hurdles with low response rates, student and faculty engagement, and closing the feedback loop. Concerns about survey fatigue also persist.
- Technological integration: French institutions are beginning to leverage AI and data analytics tools to process qualitative feedback more efficiently and uncover actionable insights. However, disparities remain in the consistency and depth of analysis.
- Closing the feedback loop: Effective practices involve timely communication of results, engaging faculty in reflective practice, and visibly linking student input to institutional change. Yet, many institutions struggle to ensure students feel their voices make a tangible impact.
- Towards a culture of continuous improvement: Exemplars demonstrate how feedback, when systemically integrated, supports iterative improvements in teaching, learning environments, and student support. Success depends on strong leadership, co-designed systems, and a clear institutional commitment to listening and acting.
Experts from Aix-Marseille Université, Clermont School of Business, EDHEC Business School, EFREI Paris, ENTPE, Le Mans Université, Nantes Université, and UCLouvain contributed to the in-depth exploration.
Writing in the report’s Introduction, Samer Saab, Founder & CEO, Explorance, commented:
“French universities are increasingly incorporating student feedback mechanisms, pedagogical innovation, and faculty development programs to improve teaching quality. In the context of a challenging external environment for higher education, institutions are now choosing to be supported in their work to deliver continuous insights which leads to effective transformation and supports institutional success.”
The report concludes:
“Across France’s diverse HE landscape, institutions are embracing evaluation, quality assurance, and student feedback as tools for transformation. While driven in part by regulatory frameworks and accreditation bodies, including HCERES, these efforts are also fuelled by a deeper commitment to student success and pedagogical excellence. Interviewees express a shared understanding: that quality teaching is not a static benchmark but an ongoing process – one rooted in listening, measuring, and evolving.
What consistently emerges from the grandes écoles, universities, business schools, and other technical and specialist institutes in France which have contributed to this report, is that while student evaluations are widely implemented, their effectiveness varies greatly depending on institutional strategy, communication, and culture.
Simply collecting data is not enough. To foster genuine improvement, evaluations must be part of a participatory process where faculty, students, and administrative staff share responsibility and understand the intended outcome. Institutions should invest in clarity, context, co-design, and communication – the cornerstones of a system that not only listens to the student voice, but acts on it.
Despite the diversity of contexts and practices described, a common theme emerges: while student feedback mechanisms are widely implemented, systematic practices for interpretation, action, and communication remain inconsistent. Institutional culture, staff capacity, and the availability of technological tools all shape the effectiveness of feedback loops. As higher education continues to evolve, institutions must move beyond simple data collection, and turn information into improvement.”
The report demonstrates that while challenges remain, French higher education institutions are making significant strides in using feedback as a lever for transformation, including using products such as Explorance Blue and Explorance MLY. The findings also underscore the importance of transparent, data-informed, and participatory approaches to elevate teaching standards and enhance the student experience.
Driving standards, supporting outcomes: How can we enhance teaching effectiveness and optimise the student experience? can be downloaded here: English version; French version.
