In October, motivation comes down to: will I use this?

Right now, for students

By October, the first weeks are behind them. The welcome events are over, timetables have settled, and the novelty of a new programme has started to fade. Assignments are arriving from several modules at once, and the exams that would give it all a purpose still feel a long way off.

For many students, this is when motivation starts to shift. Not dramatically, and not for everyone. But it is the point in the year when a quiet question starts to form: is this worth it?

That question matters. Students who stay motivated through the autumn keep showing up, keep putting in the work and keep building on what they learn. Students who lose motivation often do so quietly, long before anyone sees it in their grades.

What we are seeing

Across the institutions we work with, students answer short check-ins at key moments in the year. These include questions such as “I feel motivated to study” and “I am interested in the academic content of the programme”. Many students also add a comment explaining their answer.

Last October, the picture was largely positive. Most students still rated their motivation well, and only a small minority gave it a low score. But October is also when motivation starts to move. Across the institutions we work with, most of what students tell us at this point in the year is still above their usual level. Motivation is the exception, and it is often the first thing to slip.

What makes October worth looking at is not the scores alone. It is what students write next to them. When we read the comments on motivation questions, a clear pattern appears, and it looks different depending on whether a student is doing well or struggling.

One note on scope. Across all topics, when students rate any part of their experience poorly in October, they most often write about courses getting harder. Here we look only at what students write when they are asked about motivation.

When students struggle: will I actually use this?

In our Pulse Quiz last week, we asked which topic struggling students mentioned most in October. The answer is the real-world relevance of what they learn.

By struggling students, we mean those who gave their motivation a low score. When they explain why, nearly half of their comments come back to the same question: will this be useful later, in a job or in practice?

“I already have a career that I never needed this education for. Now I’m just seeing it through.”

Others have not yet found anything in the subject to hold on to.

“So far, the first-year topics just haven’t felt very interesting.”

Just as telling is what they do not write about. Workload and deadlines barely come up. Teachers are not mentioned at all. This is not a picture of students who are lazy or overwhelmed. It is a picture of students who cannot yet see why the work matters.

Research points the same way.

A 2026 review by Sansone, Renninger and Harackiewicz describes a study in which students explained their own motivation problems. Those who put it down to a lack of value or interest were the least likely to plan further courses in the field, and this weighed more than the grades they had received.

When motivation is high: career and curiosity

The other two questions in the quiz looked at motivated students. Their comments are the mirror image.

The topic they mention most is career prospects. Motivated students can see where their studies lead them: a job, a profession, a next step. Just as often, they mention interest in the subject itself. They are curious about what they are learning, wherever it takes them.

“I have a clear picture of my future, and I know my studies will get me into better jobs that would be almost impossible to reach without them.”

“I’m interested in the new things we’re learning, and they’re not too difficult.”

These are two different reasons to keep going. The same 2026 review draws a line between value, seeing that something is useful, and interest, finding it engaging in itself. Both lead students to put in effort, but in different ways. Value makes the effort feel worth the cost. Interest makes the effort feel lighter.

What motivated students do not mention is just as striking. Grades and recognition did not come up once. That does not mean grades are irrelevant. It suggests they are not what students reach for when they explain why they care.

Put the two sides together and the pattern is simple. Relevance works both ways. It is what motivated students have, and what struggling students are missing.

What research adds

Our data shows a pattern at one point in the year. Research helps explain why it matters.

In a study of first-year students, Wild, Rahn and Meyer (2023) found that interest in the subject declined over the first academic year. The decline was smaller where students felt supported by their lecturers and where teaching quality was high.

There is an interesting tension here. Students in our data rarely mention teachers when they explain their motivation. One reading is that students talk about the content, while support from teachers works in the background and shapes whether that content feels relevant.

The encouraging part is that relevance can be built. In a large study by Asher, Harackiewicz and colleagues (2023), first-year chemistry students wrote three short reflections on how the course material could be useful to them or to others. Two and a half years later, they were more likely to still be studying science, and the effect was largest for students from underrepresented groups.

What can be done

None of this requires a new programme. These are changes that fit into structures institutions already have.

Make relevance visible early. Connect each module to a job, a practice or a later course in the first weeks of teaching, not only in the course description.
Let students make the connection themselves. A short reflection on how a topic could be useful, to them or to someone else, is one of the best-tested ways to build value. It works because students find the answer in their own words.
Look across modules, not only within them. Programme leads can see where comments about relevance cluster. If one module keeps coming up, that is where to start.
Catch the signal in October. A short motivation check-in at this point in the term shows who is starting to slip while there is still time to act, not after the exams.
Start with self-help. Students can do much of this themselves: looking for links between assignments and their own lives, or thinking of a situation where the material would be useful. Research on how students manage their own motivation suggests these strategies help (Sansone et al., 2026). Offering them first gives students something useful straight away and adds no extra work for staff.

How this works in practice

Many of the institutions we work with ask a short motivation check-in at this point in the term, alongside questions on how relevant students find their programme. Students answer anonymously, in their own words.

What a student gets back happens in the moment. A student who rates their motivation low is offered self-help straight away: a few prompts to reconnect their studies with where they want to go, and signposting to study guidance if they want to talk to someone.

Students who choose to can ask to be contacted by a named person, such as a study adviser, for one-to-one support. The decision stays with the student.

Programme leads see themes, not individual answers. If comments about relevance cluster in a particular module, that becomes visible while the term is still running, and the conversation about what to change can start in time to make a difference.

The question worth asking in October

Motivation in October rarely disappears overnight. It fades when students stop seeing why the work matters. Relevance is something institutions can show, and something students can find for themselves, if someone asks at the right time.

See how institutions act on student feedback while the term is still running.

Sources

Wild, S., Rahn, S. and Meyer, T. (2023). Factors mitigating the decline of motivation during the first academic year. Motivation and Emotion. Read the study
Asher, M. W., Harackiewicz, J. M. et al. (2023). Utility-value intervention promotes persistence and diversity in STEM. PNAS. Read the study
Sansone, C., Renninger, K. A. and Harackiewicz, J. M. (2026). Motivating self-regulation: utility value, interest development, and the potential for intervention. Educational Psychology Review. Read the review