Constructing the university student in British popular culture

The Students on Screen research project examines how screen representations of university students produce, frame, inform and contribute to complex understandings about what it might mean to be a university student. A limitation of the existing literature examining media representations of students is that much of this work is produced from an academic standpoint (including our own publications), rather than involving students in a co-produced analysis of their positioning as university students. With funding from Research England, three university students were appointed as research assistants to help examine three television dramas – Clique (BBC, 2017-2018), Normal People (BBC, 2020) and Big Boys (Channel 4, 2022-2025). Through this co-constructed analysis, we have sought to identify current concerns and anxieties about the lives and experiences of university students. In this paper, we explore themes relating to mental health, forms of exploitation, and transitions to adulthood. We also critically consider the positioning of the university itself, and to what extent higher education is currently framed as a ‘dark economy’ in British popular culture.