Student satisfaction in FE drops

Levels were lowest among students attending general further education colleges
19th July 2018, 12:34pm

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Student satisfaction in FE drops

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/student-satisfaction-fe-drops
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The proportion of students satisfied with their FE experience has dropped slightly, a new survey reveals.

The latest FE Choices Learner Satisfaction Survey (2017-18) found 82 per cent of learners were “likely” or “extremely likely” to recommend their learning provider to friends or family - down one percentage point from the previous year.

Nine in 10 learners gave their provider a score of at least six out of 10, but there was fall of three percentage points in the proportion of learners giving a score of eight or higher, from 75 per cent to 72 per cent.

A total of 91 per cent of learners gave a score of at least six out of 10 when rating their satisfaction with the teaching on their FE course.

FE providers

General further education colleges were rated lower than other providers, with satisfaction highest among learners attending “other public funded providers” which includes local authorities. According to the survey report, this “reflects the more general positive response from adult learners (aged 19 plus) who make up the bulk of the learners at these institutions”.

Recommendation rates in the FE Choices survey were also relatively high among learners who attended private sector public funded organisations, with 86 per cent of respondents from this group saying they were “likely” or “very likely” to recommend their learning provider.

This was the case for only 78 per cent of respondents from general FE colleges, while at specialist colleges the figure was 80 per cent.

The report said: “Comparing this year’s results with those from the 2016-17 survey shows that satisfaction ratings have fallen across all questions.”

However, it explained: “The majority of respondents were satisfied with the various aspects of their learning experience. The way staff treat learners was the most highly rated aspect with 81 per cent of learners giving a rating of eight to 10. The teaching/training and the support given by staff were the next most highly rated, with 75 per cent of learners scoring these aspects eight to 10.

“The advice learners had been given on what they could do after completing their current programme of study received the lowest satisfaction rating with 68 per cent of respondents giving a score of eight to 10.”

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