Wednesday 25-02-2026 - 11:25

Not Your Student (Documentary): From Production to Post-Production

Over the past seven months, I’ve been leading the production of a feature documentary titled Not Your Student. In collaboration with Eileen Martin (Screenplay) and Anthony Aladehunsi (Co-director & Technical producer).

This project began with a simple but urgent question: What does being a ‘university student’ mean in 2026?

Too often, the status quo assumes students are financially supported, full-time learners with minimal external responsibilities. But what we are seeing and hearing is something very different. Students today are working multiple jobs, commuting, navigating housing insecurity, balancing caring responsibilities, managing visa restrictions, building businesses, and dealing with increasing mental health pressures, all while trying to succeed academically.

Not Your Student aims to capture that lived reality. (See documentary pitch slides here)

Who We’ve Recorded

Over the past seven months, we have recorded ten contributors representing a wide spectrum of experience:

• Current students
   
• Individuals who studied over 20 years ago
   
• Higher education analysts
   
• Accommodation providers
   
• University lecturers
   
• Graduate employability professionals
   
• Wellbeing and mental health specialists
   

Each voice brings a different lens, but together they tell a powerful, consistent story: the student experience has evolved significantly, and systems are still catching up. This is not a documentary about one institution. It is a sector-wide reflection on education design, accommodation, support structures, and opportunities for students today.

Why This Matters for Students

This documentary is an advocacy tool.

It asks important questions:

• Are our structures designed for the students we actually have?
   
• Does timetabling, assessment models and accommodation systems reflect modern realities?
   
• How do work, cost-of-living pressures and immigration policy shape learning?
   
• What does genuine student support look like in 2026?
   
• What does an average student identify as?
   
• What are their motivations, expectations and reality?
   

The goal is not to criticise, but to inform and influence. By centring lived experience, we hope to spark conversations that lead to better policy, more responsive design, and a stronger understanding of who students are today.

Students are not a stereotype.
Students are not a single demographic.
Students are not just learners.
Students are an integral part of the local community, we are professionals, carers, migrants, entrepreneurs, workers and changemakers.

Moving Into Post-Production

With filming now complete, we are entering post-production; editing, refining and shaping the narrative into a cohesive and compelling final film.

We aim to host a premiere screening in May 2026 at The Social Hub in Glasgow, before I wrap up my time as your president. More information about the screening event will be shared closer to the time.

A Huge Thank You

A special thank you to Anthony Aladehunsi, who began this journey with me as an MA Digital and Content Creation student at GCU and is now an alumnus, yet remains fully committed to seeing the project through as a collaborator.

Anthony has served as Technical Production Lead and Co-Director, leading on cinematography, sound, lighting, and now editing. His dedication, professionalism and creative eye have been instrumental in bringing this documentary to life.

This project has taken seven months of preparation, production and coordination, and it reflects something I strongly believe in: student voice must move beyond consultation into co-creation, documentation, storytelling and systemic reflection.

We’re now shaping the final cut.
More soon.

Tom Tom
Student President
president@gcustudents.co.uk