Ahh, now that I think about it, it might have been the hunger speed boost in the previous version. Usually the other two students would have been gone well before the end of the run.
Also, slight ... kind of bug? I noticed that things like keys have a chance to generate underneath the sinks in the bathrooms, and they require a surprisingly specific angle and distance to pick up. I haven't seen one which is completely inaccessible just yet, but it definitely feels very awkward.
The odds of escaping have seemed lower than before so far - for both the player, and our unfortunate fellow students - but it's obviously difficult to say for certain, with the RNG nature of things.