The user group.

Source: UCAS Undergraduate Sector-Level End of Cycle Data Resources 2021

Virtual and Augmented Reality can be used in a variety of different settings. This could vary from entertainment applications such as video games, to practice for real-life scenarios in a professional setting. For this set of blog posts, I am going to focus on VR/AR in the context of students learning in a university setting, specifically those studying medical-related degrees.

Between 2022/2023 the House of Commons stated within the UK, there were 2.94 million students registered at higher education institutions [1]. In 2021 alone, 11,480 UK applicants for medicine and dentistry were accepted onto a university undergraduate course, showing a 5% annual increase in the number of students [2]. With this uptake in student numbers comes a larger demand for educational support and assistance in their programmes.

References:

[1] Higher Education Student Numbers. Paul Bolton. House of Commons Library. Available at: CBP-7857.pdf

[2] Medical, Dental, and Healthcare Students: UK numbers and student support arrangements. Paul Bolton, Joe Lewis. House of Commons Library. Available at: CBP-9734.pdf