Student experience at Chichester rated among best in UK
THE student experience at the University of Chichester has been rated among the best in the country by a national survey.
An annual report, published by the Times Higher Education magazine, placed the institution 25th in the UK for overall experience.
The results from the student experience survey, which included 117 other universities from across the country, show that Chichester has risen 32 places since 2014.
Dr Mark Mason, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University, said that the students’ experience is now more important than ever before.
He added: “The new structure for university fees means that students are rightly concerned about value for money and access to high quality facilities – we have invested substantially in our campuses in recent years and I believe this partly explains our success in the survey.
“But our secret also lies in the learning community created by our staff: a combination of excellent teaching informed by research and wonderful support which gives our students a real sense of belonging and helps them to exceed their own expectations.”
The survey shows which universities offer the best all-round experience for students and takes into consideration courses, social life, facilities, and fair workload.
Students from the University of Chichester were also asked for their opinion of 21 different provisions, which included the quality of lecturers and staff, the extracurricular activities on offer, and the level of welfare support provided.
The survey rankings continue a successful period for Chichester, which was rated the 12th-highest institution in the UK for teaching quality – above Oxford and Cambridge – by the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide earlier this year.
The University was also named as one of the country’s top 20 universities for teaching quality in the 2015 National Student Survey.
Times Higher Education editor John Gill said: “The survey is unique in that it looks beyond the usual definition of the student experience to a broader one created by students themselves that includes those aspects of university life that matter most to them.
“Our survey is perfectly placed to track what this means in practice, and which universities are performing well in specific areas – whether in teaching and learning, or areas such as the standard of facilities, in which many institutions have been investing heavily.”
