The Guild and International Students

We just received the results of the latest International Student Barometer (ISB – an external international survey) and I wanted to share some of the headline figures with you. The overall results were very good and we received some good feedback on familiarity of what the Guild could offer and only a very small proportion (less than 5%) indicating that they didn’t know where to find the Guild.

The Guild received the third highest satisfaction level for the Support Services at the University, behind Faith provision and IT. This satisfaction level was higher than for both the ISB average (across all institutions that took part), and the Russell Group average. Students were also asked about their level of satisfaction with Clubs and Societies. Just under 50% of respondents had used this service with 95% of respondents stating they were satisfied with the provision. The average satisfaction rating for these was slightly higher than the ISB average, but slightly lower than the Russell Group average. Halls Welfare, which relates to the Guild Mentor scheme was included in the survey. Once again over 90% of students reported being satisfied with the service, and the average satisfaction level was slightly higher than both the ISB and Russell Group averages.

Most importantly, of all services across the University the Guild and Clubs and Societies were rated as equal top for level of satisfaction. These results are really promising but we could be even better. We know that at the moment many International Students know how the Guild can help them if they have problem but we want to see the Guild being used more proactively for development and social interaction. In term 3 will be hosting a multicultural festival to showcase internationalism and to open your eyes to a breadth of activities you can get involved with which have an international outlook.

(p.s.: an end of term report and term 2 plan are currently in the making)