South Devon College leads the way
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- Created on Tuesday, 02 October 2012 15:06
South Devon College’s university courses have received a tremendous endorsement by its students in the recent National Student Survey, released on 27 September. 91% of final year students were satisfied with their course, which placed South Devon College as the leading institution in the South West and in the top percentile of all universities and colleges delivering university level courses, and just one percentage point behind both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
The National Student Survey, now in its 8th year, is conducted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and IPOS Mori, supported by the National Union of Students (NUS).
The survey runs across all publicly funded Higher Education Institutions in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the majority of HEIs in Scotland. Further Education Colleges in England and Further Education Institutions in Wales with directly funded higher education students are eligible to participate. The survey asks final year undergraduates to provide feedback on their courses in a nationally recognised format
Nationally the satisfaction rate is 85%, with a response rate of 67%, compared to South Devon College’s response rate of 84%. The college has achieved a satisfaction rate higher than the national rate in the key areas of Academic Support, Teaching and Assessment & Feedback. This is brilliant news for the College endorsing its all round approach to supporting students at further and higher education levels.
And the great news does not end there; in specific subject areas, the College was rated even higher. For all courses in Academic Studies in Education (into which the Foundation Degree in Early Years Care and Education falls), satisfaction with the College’s course was an amazing 100%, with a response rate of 96% of students, placing the College top of all university providers in the country. For Drama, a category in which the College offers both Drama, Performance & Arts Management and Creative Digital Media Foundation Degrees, the College scored 96% satisfaction, placing it in the top ten nationally amongst all universities and colleges.
The results of the survey are publicly available to prospective students and advisors to help make informed choices of where and what to study. Data from previous surveys are currently available on the Unistats website
From September 2012, the results will be publicly available on each institution’s website via a Key Information Set (KIS) ‘widget’ (a small graphic with three key pieces of information, specifically about the course the user is viewing). The results will also be published on a new Unistats website so users can compare courses and institutions; the old Unistats website will then be closed. The redeveloped UCAS course search tool (Course Finder) will also incorporate all the KIS data.
Richard Garrett, Deputy President of the University of Plymouth Student Union said
“The student voice is an important part of the work of the University of Plymouth Student Union (UPSU), and elated with the NSS results achieved by South Devon College. UPSU works in partnership with Plymouth University and all its partner colleges to ensure that students views are represented, the National Student Survey provides students with the opportunity to provide the voice on aspects of their studies. The amazing level of satisfaction achieved at South Devon College demonstrates the importance they place on the student experience and why they are one of the leading institutions in the South West”
These outstanding results come on top of the success of the College’s university provision in the Student Perception Questionnaire 2012, conducted by Plymouth University across the University and all its college partners in the South West. The College’s first year university students were asked about the extent of their satisfaction with all aspects of their courses. In this year’s questionnaire, South Devon College gained an astounding 94.7% overall satisfaction, which placed it at the top of all colleges and the university in the Plymouth University partnership. All South Devon College’s Foundation Degree courses are awarded by Plymouth University.
South Devon College Principal, Stephen Criddle said:
“We are delighted to be recognised by our students for providing such exceptionally high levels of student support, placing us at the highest levels in the country. These results clearly underpin South Devon College’s reputation as a leading regional University Level course provider that has continued to increase student satisfaction whilst also increasing its student population and the range of courses on offer. Students’ expectations rightly are rising as more is paid for tuition fees, and at South Devon College we believe we offer one of the best value experiences for studying University Level courses.”
Anyone interested in applying for a university course at South Devon College for September 2013 should contact the University Centre on 08000 21 31 81
or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The next Open Evening at the College will be on Wednesday 21st November from 5pm - 8pm where tutors will be available to give information and advice in person.
