The first fortnight determines a great deal

Arrival, orientation, and whether anybody noticed them.

Students arrive having moved countries, frequently within days of starting, dealing with accommodation, money, transport and the ordinary shock of being somewhere unfamiliar. Their capacity for classroom learning in week one is genuinely reduced and their impression of the school is being formed continuously.

Orientation that covers practical life does more than orientation that covers the timetable. How to open a bank account, how transport works, what to do if you are unwell, where to find food you recognise: these are what a person actually needs and they are frequently left to whoever the student happens to meet.

The other determinant is whether anybody knew their name in the first week. Students describe this consistently, and it is the cheapest available intervention with the largest reported effect on whether they felt the school was any good.

Providers with a welfare or student support function should have it visible in week one rather than reachable on request, because the students most likely to need it are the least likely to seek it out.

There is a related honesty question about timeframes at enrolment. A student sold a twelve-week course on the basis that it will produce a particular score, where the typical gain over that period is smaller, has been misled by whoever made the sale rather than by the teacher who has to deliver the outcome.