LSE’s team of Departmental Senior Student Advisers (DSSA) continues to strengthen support for students and staff across the School as it launches a Community of Practice (CoP).
Now approaching the end of its second academic year, the DSSA service provides a dedicated point of contact within departments, offering professional, pastoral advice and helping students navigate the range of support available at LSE. This means that every department has either a DSSA or an already existing role or equivalent roles to support students.
They work alongside academic and professional services colleagues to ensure students can access the right help for personal, practical and study‑related challenges, and to support their overall engagement and wellbeing.
Strengthening collaboration through a Community of Practice
A Community of Practice (CoP) has now been established, with four sessions delivered this year.
Almost all departments are active participants in the CoP and representatives from 23 departments joined sessions focused on sharing practice, learning from colleagues and improving joined-up working right across the School.
Contributions from teams including Navigate, the Financial Support Office, Student Advice and Engagement, and Student Wellbeing Service have enriched discussions and strengthened connections.
Growing reach and engagement
The DSSA service has continued to expand this year, with two additional departments joining the scheme, bringing the total to 8 advisers working across 16 departments. Demand remains high with over 1,200 students made contact with DSSAs during the academic year, and around 1,000 students receiving advice.
A training programme for the advisers has been introduced to ensure a consistent, high-quality service for students across departments
Evaluation and insights
- A full evaluation of the service’s first year was undertaken in partnership with the Education Evaluation and Insights Team.
- Findings show a generally positive response from both students and staff, highlighting the impact of DSSAs in supporting student experience.
- Five recommendations were identified, with the DSSA leadership team now progressing those that can be actioned.
- Findings have been shared with departments, with follow-up conversations underway to discuss engagement, service offered and integration with departments.
Read the full Departmental Senior Student Advisors (DSSAs) Impact Report – Year 1
Looking ahead and building on progress
The focus is on embedding consistent approaches, strengthening departmental integration, and enhancing the quality of support available to students.
Work is already underway to build on the progress made over the past two years, including:
- Training review and 2026/27 plan to further strengthen adviser capability
- Evaluation of the Community of Practice, with feedback informing next steps
- Ongoing departmental engagement, following evaluation discussions
- Development of Service Level Agreements, to provide clearer expectations and consistency across departments.