The HEPI–HEA Student Academic Experience Survey 2014
Nick Hillman and Paul Bennett
• 15,046 respondents from YouthSight’s “Student Panel”
• The panel itself recruits members via UCAS
• Sample comprises:- Full-time undergraduates in all year groups - From higher education institutions across the UK that receive public funding
• Weightings are applied to results
• Online survey, open 24 February – 26 March 2014
• Main changes for 2014:- New ONS questions on wellbeing- Improved answer options for some questions
2
The survey
Key findings
How satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
To what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?
How happy did you feel yesterday?
General population 77% 81% 72%
Population aged 20-24 79% 78% 70%
Student population 74% 72% 62%
4
Personal wellbeing of students
Percentages are those answering 7 or higher on a scale where 1 = ‘not at all’ and 10 = ‘completely’
5
Satisfaction with course quality
All students
Russell Group
Pre-1992
Post-1992
Other special-ist
3%
2%
3%
11%
9%
9%
13%
10%
57%
56%
57%
58%
52%
29%
33%
31%
26%
34%
Don't know Not at all satisfied Not very satisfied Fairly satisfiedVery satisfied
86%
89%
88%
84%
86%
TOTAL SATISFIE
D
6
Experience compared with expectations
Other/don't know
It's been exactly what I expected
It's been better in some ways and worse in others
It's been worse
It's been better
2%
11%
49%
11%
26%
2%
8%
45%
13%
32%
2%
9%
50%
12%
27%
2014 2013 2012
7
Experience worse than expectations if…
Don't know
Other (please specify)
Teaching staff were inaccessible
The course wasn't challenging enough
The course was too challenging
There was too little interaction with other students
The teaching groups were too large
There was too little interaction with staff
The feedback was poor
The teaching quality was worse than I expected
I didn't feel supported in my private study
I received fewer contact hours than I was expecting
The course was poorly organised
I haven't put in enough effort myself
3%
13%
11%
11%
12%
19%
19%
26%
26%
27%
28%
32%
32%
36%
8
Course choices and information
Don't know
No definitely not
No probably not
Yes maybe
Yes definitely
3%
34%
31%
22%
10%
N/A - Can’t remember the information that
was given to me
None of the above
Vague
Informative
Useful
Misleading
Accurate
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
8.8%
1.0%
18.2%
50.7%
51.4%
6.7%
37.9%
9.8%
1.1%
19.1%
47.2%
48.7%
7.7%
37.4%
Year 2013 Year 2014
Whether students would have chosen differently knowing what they do now
Views on information provided by the institution before commencement
9
Perceived benefit of different sized classes
No other students
1-5 other students
6-15 other students
16-50 other students
51-100 other students
More than 100 other students
9%
10%
10%
24%
36%
37%
31%
37%
45%
51%
43%
41%
59%
50%
42%
20%
11%
10%
3%
7%
10%
Don't know Not at all A little Quite a bit A lot
89%
TOTAL POSITIV
E
87%
88%
71%
54%
51%
10
Hours spent in different sized classes
0.330.87
2.73
3.96
1.93
2.08
0 students
1-5 students
6-15 students
16-50 students
51-100 students
More than 100 students
11
Hours spent in different sized classes
0
5
10
15
20
25
2014 2013 2012 2007 2006
12
Reasons for missing classes
Don’t know
Other
I had paid work commitments
It was cancelled
Sessions were optional
I couldn’t be bothered to attend
I was ill
I didn’t feel that I needed to go because I could get the notes online
I didn’t find these lectures very useful
1%
15%
9%
14%
21%
31%
31%
40%
50%
13
Total workload
0102030405060
14
Perceived value for money
I have received very good value for money
I have received good value for money
I have received neither poor nor good value for money
I have received poor value for money
I have received very poor value for money
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
8%
34%
30%
20%
8%
34%
36%
22%
6%
3%
7%
34%
37%
17%
5%
9%
32%
31%
20%
8%
12%
33%
30%
18%
8%
All UK
England
Northern Ire-land
Scotland
Wales
15
Impact of new fees on perceived VFM
I have received very poor value for money
I have received poor value for money
I have received neither poor nor good value for money
I have received good value for money
I have received very good value for money
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
10.5%
22.6%
30.6%
28.4%
7.9%
4.0%
14.3%
29.6%
41.3%
10.8%
Year 2012 Year 2014
First and second years studying in England who are from England, Northern Ireland or Scotland
16
Impact on experience vs expectations
First and second years studying in England who are from England, Northern Ireland or Scotland
It’s been better
It’s been worse
It’s been better in some ways and worse than others
It’s been exactly what I expected
Other/don’t know
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
28.1%
11.7%
50.2%
9.6%
0.4%
26.7%
11.3%
49.1%
10.8%
2.2%
Year 2012 Year 2014
17
Students’ views on spending priorities
Better security on campus
Giving academics more time for research
Better sport or social facilities
Better buildings
Better pay for staff
Other support services (careers, accommodation etc.)
Supporting students to settle into the university
Providing better access to staff outside teaching sessions
Better financial support for hard-up students
Providing better learning facilities
Better training for lecturers
Reducing the size of teaching groups
Having more hours of teaching
Reducing fee levels
0%
1%
2%
2%
1%
2%
3%
4%
7%
11%
13%
14%
15%
23%
2%
7%
11%
11%
12%
14%
14%
18%
24%
34%
34%
35%
35%
48%
Ranked as top three answer Ranked as top answer
The HEPI–HEA Student Academic Experience Survey 2014
Nick Hillman and Paul Bennett
The HEPI–HEA Student Academic Experience Survey 2014
Nick Hillman and Paul Bennett