What impresses today's freshers?

A survey asked 10,000-plus first-years what they thought of their university - with surprising results. Paul Hill reports

A fresh insight into what impresses student applicants and influences their perceptions of universities around the UK has been given by a survey of more than 10,000 undergraduates.

The survey, by the research company Opinionpanel, asked first-year undergraduates to reflect on their experiences during the application process and how they perceived their university.

Students were asked to rate their university's approach to admissions, the location and campus facilities.

They were also asked to indicate what impression they had of the university's academic reputation, the quality of the course and teaching and their perception of its position in league tables.

The survey also gauged whether institutions had been recommended by teachers and parents, whether students perceived it to have good transport links, an impressive open day and helpful staff.

In all, students were asked 44 questions about ten broad topics, rating their university on a scale of one to seven.

The survey is part of Opinionpanel's Decliners Study 2005, which also gauged the views of students about universities whose offers they had declined.

Not surprisingly, the survey shows that Oxford, Cambridge, and the London colleges dominate students' perceptions of the best-performing universities in league tables or academic reputation.

Oxford topped the list of universities "highly recommended" by students'

parents or teachers, while Cambridge topped the students' list of universities perceived to be "strong in league tables".

Other institutions - the likes of Warwick and Loughborough, Bangor and Hull - were highly rated by students for the quality of campus facilities or for their helpful admissions staff.

Overall, old universities tended to be more highly rated in terms of their academic reputation by their students than their counterparts at post-1992 institutions.

York, Warwick, Durham, St Andrews and Bristol were perceived to be the other universities that were "strong in league tables".

But post-1992 institutions were frequently highly rated by students in terms of marketing style and how they dealt with applications.

Three new universities featured in the top 20 institutions for "being interested in me during the application process", three for "helpful administration" and four in the top 20 for having a "useful and appealing website".

Bournemouth, Nottingham Trent and Northumbria were all seen by their students as having "strong links with industry".

Students' perceptions of Oxford Brookes ranked it in the top 20 for "good teaching".

New universities in major cities - Manchester Metropolitan and Northumbria at Newcastle - were rated highly by their students for being in an "exciting city".

Overall, Strathclyde University had more top 20 mentions than any other institution and was in the top ten universities in four of the survey's ten topics.

Strathclyde's first-years perceived their university to be a particularly strong performer in terms of employment prospects, course content and the quality of teaching and they prized the "reasonable" cost of living in the area.

Martin Collins, Opinionpanel's research director and a former professor of marketing at City University, said that Strathclyde appeared to be an all-round strong performer, rather than the best performer in a single category.

"That seems to be very relevant when the search is on to produce a more diverse range of students - that an institution has a broad appeal and isn't just tapping traditional applicants," Professor Collins said.

The undergraduates who took part in the survey were recruited through Opinionpanel's existing student panel, with the number of respondents from each institution in approximate proportion to the first-year intake of the university.

Institutions with responses from fewer than 50 current first- year students were excluded from the overall findings for this analysis. Professor Collins said the survey helped to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of different universities' approach.

"There are things that universities cannot manage - such as their location," he said. "But there are other factors that may be strengths that they can promote and emphasise - there are things that are eminently manageable and improvable," he said.

paul.hill@thes.co.uk

• Opinionpanel's Decliners Study 2005 took place between February 23 and March 9, 2005. 10,542 first-year undergraduate respondents - all members of Opinionpanel's student panel took part. Respondents received an incentive of £1.00 in Amazon gift-certificate credits for completing each part of the two-part questionnaire.
• For further information about the Decliners Study 2005, contact Ben Marks on 020 7288 8789 or benmarks@opinionpanel.co.uk or Opinionpanel, 301a Aberdeen House, Highbury Grove, London N5 2EA.

 

Chart toppers, bright lights and golden reputations

 

Perceived best in
university league tables

 

1 Cambridge

6 York

2 Oxford

7 Warwick

3 LSE

8 Durham

4 UCL

9 St Andrews

5 Imperial

10 Bristol

 

 

 

 

 

Perceived most exciting city

 

Rank

Institution

 

 

1st

University Coll London

6th

Imperial Coll London

2nd

Manchester

7th

Cardiff

3rd

Manchester Met.

8th

Northumbria

4th

Newcastle

9th

Liverpool

5th

King’s Coll London

10th

Edinburgh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most recommendations from teachers/parents

 

Rank

Institution

 

 

1st

Oxford

6th

St Andrews

2nd

Cambridge

7th

University Coll London

3rd

LSE

8th

Bristol

4th

Imperial Coll London

9th

Edinbrugh

5th

Durham

10th

Warwick