Case Study: University of Essex prepares STEM students for university with Labster virtual labs

Preparing STEM students for university with virtual labs

The University of Essex faced the challenge of preparing a diverse cohort of Life Sciences foundation year students, who had varying levels of prior knowledge and lab experience, for their first year of university. With a rapidly growing student intake, they also needed to supplement limited in-person lab time and equipment. They implemented Labster's virtual lab simulations to help close this knowledge gap and scale their practical teaching.

By integrating Labster into their curriculum, the university provided students with a safe, unlimited environment to practice and contextualize their learning. The solution led to increased student confidence, more efficient completion of actual lab work, and overwhelmingly positive feedback from learners. Labster enabled the institution to offer experiments that would otherwise be impossible due to constraints on time, space, and equipment.

University of Essex

Victoria Allen-Baume

Lecturer