Division of Marketing and Communications
UCAS VISIT DAYS 2011 ENTRY
Introduction
This paper provides information regarding the UCAS Visit days held between December 2010 and
April 2011, analysing feedback regarding these events and provides information and proposals for
the upcoming UCAS days in 2011-12.
Overall, feedback has been positive and has improved on last year, although the campus tours are
still not as high as other areas in the programme. Discussion can be found below.
This report also provides information for next year’s UCAS Days, for your information.
Action: Academic departments are asked to take note of the following:
 The dates for 2011-2012 are available at the end of this report to aid you to plan and
prepare for your departmental sessions. Please can you inform Lucy Wade
(law14@le.ac.uk) which dates you would like to use by Friday 2nd September 2011.
 Please note the issues arising from the feedback that are of concern to departments.
Individual detailed departmental feedback will be circulated in due course.
 Further information and instructions regarding Wednesday parking will be available to
departments from Student Recruitment shortly. Departments are asked, where possible, to
make further use of the Saturday events to alleviate the problem.
1.
Overview
a) Dates
UCAS visit days were held between December 10 and April 11. One date was available
before the Christmas break, and 17 after. Six dates were Saturdays and the remainder
were Wednesdays.
Each Department decided which dates to participate in, and invited their applicants.
Departments participated in between three and fifteen dates each, with most opting for
three, five or 6 dates in total.
b) Programme
Wednesdays
A Welcome presentation was offered in the morning, which also included sections on
Student Finance and Student Life. This was followed by a Campus Tour. On some dates
two or three Welcome talks took place simultaneously due to the number of visitors and the
capacity of the lecture theatres. In the afternoon applicants attended their departmental
programmes. These were followed by the Accommodation Tour of 1 1/2 hours, which
departed from outside the Students Union on Mayors Walk.
The Wednesday programme was as follows:
From 9.15
10.00
11.15
12.00
13.00
14.00/14.30/15.00
15.30/16.00/16.30
Registration
Welcome, including Student Finance and Student Life
Campus Tour
Lunch
Department Talk/Visit
Accommodation Tour
Return to campus, end of visit.
Departments were asked to select a slot for an Accommodation tour for their visitors at
14:00, 14:30 or 15:00, depending on how long they wanted them to spend with the
department.
Saturdays
Two programmes were in operation on Saturdays to better manage the number of
attendees. Each department selected which programme they followed. The start of the day
was brought forward 30 minutes to bring it in line with the Wednesday programme. All
applicants attended a welcome talk on arrival and then split into the following programmes.
Programme A
From 9.15
10.00
11.15
12.00
13.00
14.00/14.30/15.00
15.30/16.00/16.30
Registration
Welcome, including Student Finance and Student Life
Campus Tour
Lunch
Department talk/visit
Accommodation Tour
Return to campus, end of visit.
Departments on Programme A were asked to select a slot for an Accommodation tour for
their visitors at 14:00, 14:30 or 15:00, depending on how long they wanted them to spend
in the department.
Programme B
From 9.15
10.00
11.15
12.45
13.45
14:30
Registration
Welcome, including Student Finance and Student Life
Department talk/visit
Lunch
Campus Tour
Accommodation Tour
16.00
Return to campus, end of visit
Each Accommodation Tour took in the three main sites at Oadby – John Foster Hall, Gilbert
Murray Stamford Hall and Beaumont Hall, showing 2 different types of room, plus the JCR
and dining rooms of each hall. Digby was not used for logistical reasons, as it is a little
further away from the other buildings.
c) Attendance
A total of 3567 applicants are registered as having attended a UCAS Visit Day. Attendance
figures kept from the previous year indicate that this is a 4.6% increase on the 2010 entry
cycle, where 3410 applicants were registered as having attended visit days.
As in 2010, the busiest dates were in mid-February and mid-March, with Saturdays being a
popular option. Typical attendances at this peak period were between 189 and 393
applicants, plus parents and other supporters. The first date in January and the one date in
December were the least well attended, in that order, followed by 9th February and 9th
March. This is mirrored in the attendance for 2009-10, however the numbers of attendance
are lower on these days than in the previous cycle, with only 46 applicants attending the
January 19th day.
Feedback from staff suggests that on some of the busiest dates the large numbers of
visitors created some logistical problems, mainly large queues at the catering facilities.
From the perspective of the centrally organised aspects of the day, the optimum attendance
for logistical purposes is around 220 applicants on a weekday or 350 on a Saturday. This
year, 2 out of the 12 Wednesdays went over these numbers, whereas 2 out of 6 Saturdays
went over these numbers (with the highest attendance on a Saturday being 393 on 26th
February, which was during half term).
2.
Evaluation of UCAS Visit Days 2011 Questionnaire
All attendees, excluding Engineering applicants, were sent a post-event evaluation
questionnaire to be completed on-line. A total of 1012 were completed – a response rate of
33%.
a) Ratings of different aspects of the day.
Below are ratings given by the applicants for the different aspects of the day (including
ratings given in equivalent surveys for the last five years).
These show a very slight increase in most areas on last year’s ratings by students. The
new combined Welcome, Student Finance and Student Life talk has seen an increase for
the Student Life talk, receiving the highest rating in five years, although the Welcome and
Finance talk have experienced a slight decrease in ratings.
If a benchmark of 4 (which indicates “very good”) is set as the minimum expectation for
each aspect of the day, then the one area which continues to require attention is the
Campus Tour.
Information received prior to your visit
Information received on the day
Maps and directions
Ease of finding your way around
Friendliness of staff
Student Guides
Welcome Talk
Campus Tour
Accommodation Tour
Departmental Programme
Student Life Talk
Finance Talk
2007
4.03
4.31
4.16
4.31
4.67
4.57
4.11
4.09
3.94
4.27
4.27
n/a
2008
3.92
4.30
4.09
4.20
4.61
4.48
4.17
3.91
3.80
4.21
4.11
4.15
2009
4.04
4.25
4.02
4.23
4.62
4.43
4.21
3.91
3.71
4.25
4.19
4.27
2010
4.05
4.29
4.1
4.27
4.64
4.44
4.41
3.78
3.96
4.2
4.17
4.41
2011
4.18
4.34
4.02
4.24
4.65
4.41
4.44
3.96
4.01
4.29
4.34
4.37
b) Departmental Ratings
2010
2011
2010
2011
4.00
4.17
Historical Studies
4.24
4.46
Archaeology & Anc. History
4.56
4.56
History & American St
4.57
4.5
Biological Sciences
4.13
4.44
History & Politics
4.38
3.17
Chemistry
4.33
4.42
History of Art
4.38
4.71
Comms, Media & Society
3.17
4.43
History of Art & English
4.00
3.5
Computer Science
3.88
4.05
Interdisciplinary Science
4.46
4.31
Contemporary History
4.17
3.33
Law
4.34
4.53
Criminology
Economics
English
4.46
4.02
4.14
4.21
3.84
4.37
Law with French
Management
Mathematics
4.67
3.32
3.69
4.25
4.16
3.84
English & American Studies
4.48
4.39
Modern Languages
4.26
4.4
English and History
4.30
4.12
Physics & Astronomy
4.43
4.64
Film Studies
4.00
4.38
Politics & Intl. Relations
3.60
4.05
Film Studies & English
Geography
Geology
4.19
3.83
4.81
4.29
4.4
4.72
Psychology
Sociology
4.42
4.40
4.13
4.29
American Studies
The majority of subject talks and events are well received, though a number have had
consistently weaker feedback than others. This feedback will be given to departments in
due course.
c) Other issues arising from applicant feedback
When asked what they liked about the day, applicants commented positively on a range of
different aspects to the day, including good overall organisation, friendly staff and students,
and very strong feedback for departments.
A recurring theme in the feedback is that visitors would like the campus tour to be more
thorough, entering buildings and especially visiting the library. We plan to review the
campus tours for next year, offer extra training for ambassadors and speak to the library
staff about gaining better access.
More information about sport and music at Leicester was also sought. This can be added in
more detail into the Student Life talk.
Although the Accommodation tour did receive positive feedback in the comments section,
and the rating has improved since last year, many visitors still wished to see more types of
accommodation, especially more self-catered rooms.
Once again, there were comments from a number of applicants on joint honours courses
who had only found out about one aspect of their prospective degrees during their visit.
Departments may wish to rethink their sessions again to address this issue.
Departments who are based off the main site may also like to include information as to
where teaching takes place in their presentations, as there were comments from students
showing confusion and disappointment at not having seen their department buildings.
Also, there were comments requesting more information for mature students, and
particularly information for mature students in the Finance and Student Life talks.
3.
Conclusions and Plans for 2012 entry
a) Conclusion
There has been an improvement in the quality of the visitor experience, compared to last
year, although the campus tour still proves to be problematic. We shall provide extra
training for the campus tour and will be more selective when choosing ambassadors to give
them, monitoring performance and providing feedback where necessary. A meeting is to be
set up with the library regarding UCAS Visit Days.
We will also have to carefully select ambassadors with ideal rooms in the halls for our
accommodation tours in October, especially with rooms in self-catered areas such as
Bowder Court.
b) Overall structure and Dates
We propose a similar programme:


Use all Wednesdays from late January to late March, and this year, have two April
dates to take advantage of the Easter holidays.
One Saturday before Christmas and 5 Saturdays after Christmas.
Dates selected for next year are:














Saturday 10th December 2011
Wednesday 25th January 2012
Wednesday 1st February 2012
Wednesday 8th February 2012
Saturday 11th February 2012 – Half Term
Wednesday 15th February 2012 – Half Term
Saturday 18th February 2012 – Half Term
Wednesday 22nd February 2012
Saturday 25th February 2012
Wednesday 29th February 2012
Wednesday 7th March 2012
Saturday 10th March 2012
Wednesday 14th March 2012
Saturday 17th March 2012




Wednesday 21st March 2012
Wednesday 28th March 2012
Wednesday 4th April 2012
Wednesday 18th April 2012
c) Programme
i)
Programme for Wednesdays:
9.15
10.00
11.15
12.00
13.00
14.00/14.30/15.00
15.30/16.00/16.30
ii)
Registration
Welcome Talk (including Finance and Student Life)
Campus Tour
Lunch
Department Visit
Accommodation Tour (staggered start time)
Finish
Programmes for Saturdays:
Programme A:
9.15
10.00
11.15
12.00
13.00
14.00/14.30/15.00
15.30/16.00/16.30
Registration
Welcome Talk (including Finance and Student Life)
Campus Tour
Lunch
Department Visit
Accommodation Tour (staggered start time)
Finish
Programme B:
9.15
10.00
11.15
12.45
13.45
14.30
16:00
Registration
Welcome Talk (including Finance and Student Life)
Department Visit
Lunch
Campus Tour
Accommodation Tour
Finish
d) Student Ambassador Training
New recruits and existing Student Ambassadors will be involved in robust Campus Tour
training, to include presentation techniques. Accommodation Tour training continues to be
available to new recruits regardless of their experience at Oadby halls. A recruitment,
selection and training event for new Ambassadors was held on 13th-15th June, and the next
recruitment event will be held at the beginning of the Autumn term, primarily to recruit
ambassadors with rooms in the Oadby halls for our accommodation tours.
e) Parking
Visitor parking on Wednesday events has been impacted due to the redevelopment of
areas across campus. Last year, a limited number of spaces were provided at coach drive
(Victoria Park) on specific days. Student Recruitment will provide further information in due
course regarding parking, and departments are recommended to make further use of the
Saturday events, to ease the burden on the facilities during the weekdays.
Lucy Wade
Student Recruitment Officer
Division of Marketing and Communications
17 June 2011