How a buddy scheme created social and intercultural space for international and home students

Buddy schemes are a form of learning intervention that create a space for students to support each other by ‘sharing knowledge, ideas and experience between [...] participants’ (Boud, 2001, p.3). The author set up and conducted research to evaluate a buddy scheme to support international Nursing students on a one-year programme by matching them with a home-student buddy studying at the same level. This small-scale, qualitative study sought to investigate international and home students’ experiences of participating in the buddy scheme. An online survey asked students to evaluate their access to social and academic support before and during the scheme through textual and numerical questions. A self-selecting subgroup of participants subsequently took part in semi-structured interviews to reveal their experiences and insights. These were recorded and transcribed before the data were analysed using inductive textual analysis to identify key themes. In line with wider literature, this study found peer support has a positive influence on international students’ socio-cultural transition (McPherson, Punch and Graham, 2017; Shu et al., 2020; WONKHE, 2022), yet it is also ‘mutually beneficial’ (Boud, 2001, p.3), having a positive impact on both groups of students. Home students valued the opportunity to build relationships with peers they would not have otherwise met (Bethel, Ward and Fetvadjiev, 2020). This opportunity for intercultural exchange enriched their experience too. As such, this study adds weight to existing evidence that buddy schemes are a useful means by which UK universities can support international and home students.