“The thing that gets me up in the morning is knowing I can make a difference – not just through my own work, but by facilitating others to support students.”
Amandip Bisel joined Imperial in August 2024 as Head of Education and Student Experience Strategy Projects in the Education Office. With a background in widening participation and a PhD from Imperial, she is passionate about improving students’ experience at Imperial regardless of their background.
Creating the Class of 2030
The Education Office works across faculties to ensure every student enjoys a high-quality, equitable experience – regardless of course or campus. It plays a central role in the Class of 2030 strand of Imperial’s Science for Humanity strategy, aiming to create the most talented, enterprising, and diverse cohort yet. Amandip works on a wide variety of projects to make this vision a reality. “The thing that gets me up in the morning is knowing I can make a difference – not just through my own work, but by facilitating others to support students.”
From Imperial Thrive to StudentShapers
One project she’s particularly proud of is Imperial Thrive, which offers pre-arrival residentials for under-represented students. These events help students build connections, meet tutors, and settle into campus life before term begins.
“Thrive wasn’t even an idea when I started in August 2024. By September this year, we’d delivered a residential for over 200 students. It’s about building belonging and supporting students throughout their time at Imperial.”
Another focus is improving assessment and feedback for students. Amandip is working with academics to meet evolving student expectations for more detailed, meaningful feedback and clearer links between assessments and future careers.
“Our students are demanding more. They want detailed, meaningful feedback – not just headlines. They want to understand why something’s wrong and how it connects to their future.” She adds, “We’re trying to be more radical. It’s not about assessing for assessment’s sake – it’s about making sure it works for both staff and students.”
StudentShapers is another programme run by the Education Office that Amandip is particularly proud of. It is a project that engages students as partners in learning and teaching. This year, ring-fenced funding for student-initiated projects is a major step forward. “Students often identify challenges that staff might miss. We want to empower them to take ownership of their learning experience and collaborate with staff to drive change.”
Coming home
Amandip has a deep personal connection with Imperial. She was among the first to complete a social sciences PhD here, researching medical school outreach and widening participation. “Doing a social science PhD at Imperial was a unique experience. It’s great to see that there are more of those now – it shows we’re expanding our understanding of what impactful research looks like.”
Returning to Imperial felt natural: “When I came back, it really was like coming home. I felt like I already understood a lot of the challenges we’d be looking to address – not just through my research, but because I’d been a student here too.”
Life beyond the office
Outside of work, Amandip loves swimming and attending live music gigs. A recent highlight was watching Eyrkah Badu at the Royal Albert Hall, conveniently located next to Imperial’s South Kensington Campus. Travelling is another passion, and she has enjoyed recent trips to Albania and Denmark and then to further afield to places such as India and Dominican Replublic.