Association of Colleges

 

 

Improve the experience for international FE students in the UK and benchmark your institution’s performance! Please contact Naomi Kenny, International Graduate Insight Group if you're interested in this initiative.   

 

i-graduate, the Association of Colleges (AoC) and UKCISA are delighted to invite you to participate in “Tracking the International Student Experience at Further Education (FE) colleges in the UK”. The research has been commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), to examine the expectations and experiences of non-EU students who undertake an FE course in the UK. The study will highlight areas of good practice and to inform areas for development, with the overall aim of improving the experience for this group of learners.

 

The Prime Minister launched PMI2 in April 2006.  It is a five year programme supported by some £33 million, jointly funded by government, the British Council and the education sector. The overall aim of PMI2 is to secure the UK’s position as a leader in international Higher and Further education and sustain the managed growth of UK international education delivered both in the UK and overseas. PMI2 already has Higher Education and English Language Teaching student satisfaction indices to measure changes in international student satisfaction levels in those two sectors. To ensure that all sectors are being addressed by the Programme, international student satisfaction levels in the Further Education sector also need to be measured.

 

The study will comprise of a short, easy to complete online questionnaire to be completed by students currently undertaking an FE course in the UK.  The questionnaire will ask students about their expectations and experiences of study, including value for money, course quality, accommodation, support and advisory services.

 

The aggregated results from the study will contribute to a report to inform the sector. You will receive a copy of the research, giving new and exciting insights into the experience of students undertaking an FE course in the UK. You will also be credited as a partner institution in the report.

 

As well as the aggregated report for the sector, each participating FE College will receive confidential results from their students. You will receive a one-page summary sheet, comparing your college’s satisfaction scores with the aggregated results of all other responses, across all elements of the student experience.

 

There are two easy steps:

 

1) Inform i-graduate of your interest in participating in the study - i-graduate will then provide you with instructions for participating and send you a web link to the survey. Please contact Naomi Kenny to register your interest.

2) Encourage your students to complete the survey – i-graduate will provide you with more information on this stage

 

i-graduate will collate responses from all participating institutions and prepare both sector and institution-specific reporting.

 

 

About i-graduate

i-graduate delivers an advanced range of dedicated market research and consultancy services for the education sector worldwide - measuring the expectations, experiences and reflections of internationally mobile students.

 

i-graduate’s flagship service, the International Student Barometer (ISB), tracks the international student experience, providing institutions with a detailed report on their students decision making and experience compared with students at other institutions. Since 2005, over 500 institutions in 16 countries have implemented the ISB and more than 550,000 students have taken part in the study.