A critical element in the effectiveness of Star Units is that way they are presented by personal tutors, trainers and lecturers. These are the people who are the ambassadors for Star Units. It is their role to alert students to Star Units, explain what they entail and encourage learners to achieve those standards.

To maximise the benefits of Star Units it is important that students are introduced to them and motivated to achieve them from an early stage in the programme. The students then need to be reminded of them regularly so that they strive to achieve more. That is the way the culture and aspirations of the students is changed.   

Admittedly in our first year of piloting Star Units there was some scepticism amongst the initial group of students simply because Star Units were something new. However, the word filtered down to the Year two cohort who were at first curious and then very positive about them. From then on we’ve found that they have been very popular.