By Mark Hughes
On Wednesday 15 April 2026, Elevate hosted The University of Sheffield's annual Education Conference, centered around the theme: What does it mean to be a student at The University of Sheffield?.
In this blog, Mark Hughes of the Digital Learning Team reflects on his experiences at the Conference and at the panels he attended.
What does it mean to be a student at the UoS?
One aspect of past education conferences that staff have applauded is being able to hear from students directly in student discussion panels. This year with the theme, ‘What does it mean to be a student at the UoS?’ the conference doubled down on this aspect. We heard from current students sharing their experiences of life at the University, assessment and digital education, and disability support. Recent graduates also reflected on what it was like to be a student, and how being a student here at the University equipped them for their careers.
In my role, I can be quite disconnected from the lived experiences of our students, so it was really valuable to be able to hear from current and past students directly. In conversations I had with other staff throughout the day, other teachers and professional services staff feel the same way. One teacher I talked to at the conference expressed doing their best to engage with students on a personal level, but still weren’t sure if their approach is effective for all students and so always appreciates this kind of feedback from the student body. In this article, I’d like to reflect on a few key topics the students spoke about throughout the day.
Making the most of extra-curricular opportunities
"For me, it's more about what I do outside of lectures but within the University"
In looking ahead to graduation and beginning on their career paths, current students need to do more than focus on only their core studies. The need to make applications to employers stand out from the crowd is more pressing than ever with the increase in applications in graduate vacancies, as GenAI makes it easier to compose personalised applications and there being less graduate vacancies in the current graduate jobs market.
In regard to this widening of activity while at the University, current students and graduates alike commended what the University has to offer: Organised events, clubs and societies, activities, sports and varsity, the sense of community, and modern facilities like The Diamond and The Wave.
Likewise, they commented positively on the wide variety of career-preparation and work opportunities they discovered and took advantage of:
- Part-time work such as in the English Language Teaching Centre or with the Student Union,
- internships
- volunteering
- Student Observation of Teaching scheme (SOOT)
- Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)
The support offered by the Careers Service, like with CV writing, interview practice and one-to-one drop-ins, mentorship schemes and support from the 301 Academic Skills team was also praised.
Generative AI in learning and teaching
"it's not always clear if you're overstepping"
Another topic under discussion was generative AI. We heard students’ opinions about their approach to its use and the support and guidance available to them from the university. In computer programming, students are encouraged to use AI whereas in arts and humanities, the approach is more cautious, with greater concerns relating to ethics and sustainability. There was an awareness of the need to be sceptical and question the outputs of generative AI and not just take its responses as fact. It was encouraging to learn that these students exhibit critical AI literacy ahead of the University’s common approach to AI in the curriculum.
"they didn't know that they were doing anything wrong"
Something else students expressed concern about was the lack of clarity around when GenAI can be used for and to what extent it can be used. One student commented that "it's not always clear if you're overstepping", so clearly there is concern about academic integrity. One student told the audience about friends who have "gotten in trouble for using it, but they didn't know that they were doing anything wrong". In addition to a perceived need for greater clarity on how GenAI can be used, the students would like more guidance, signposting and training. In terms of assessment, they wanted more clarity on what usage of GenAI is permitted, and under what circumstances would GenAI use be considered academic misconduct. Collectively, the group of students did display an awareness of limitations and ethical use of AI. What was of concern was their trepidation around its use and uncertainty to what extent they can use it in their studies.
In the second part of this blog, Mark will look at career preparation and how students prepare for a post-education life, and also reflect on whether a skills gap is in danger of developing.
Mark Hughes is a Digital Learning Officer in the Digital Learning Team