Contact Time: The Question Parents Should Really Be Asking

In the 2026 Unifrog Parent Survey, contact time was the third most important factor for parents, with 91% of parents saying lots of contact time is important or very important, up 11 percentage points from 2025. Whilst contact time is a useful measure, it is worth understanding what the term means in reality.

Contact time is any scheduled teaching: lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and lab sessions. The HEPI and Advance HE Student Academic Experience Survey 2026 puts the average for universities at 15.5 timetabled hours a week for full-time undergraduates.

Here’s what that average number doesn’t tell you. A one-hour lecture where one academic speaks to 200+ students and a one-hour small group seminar both count as an hour of contact time. But are they the same experience?

The contact time figure tells you how many hours are timetabled but it doesn’t tell you how many other students they will be sharing that time with.

That is why class size matters as much as the contact time statistic. At UA92 the average class size is 27 students across all courses, and we do not teach in lecture style broadcasts. Our students are part of the discussion with more opportunity to engage with our academic staff.

In the most recent National Student Survey 2026, students were asked how easy it was to contact teaching staff when they needed to? UA92 scored 93.1, higher than all Greater Manchester universities.

So yes, at the next Open Day ask about contact hours. Then ask the question: how many other students will be in their class?

Sources:

HEPI and Advance HE, Student Academic Experience Survey 2026

National Student Survey 2026, Q15 ‘How easy was it to contact teaching staff when you needed to?’ UA92 scored 93.1, against a sector average of 88.8.