SEPSG (13/14) 31
Induction Survey
Survey Results
January 2014
Final Version
Author:
Joshua Stapp
Student Surveys Officer
Joshua.stapp@ed.ac.uk
Queries are to be directed to:
Jennifer Murray & Kirstin Hunger
Student Induction Team
Induction@ed.ac.uk
Induction Survey Summary Report – 2013/14
This was a collaborative survey between EUSA and the pre-induction & arrival team. The purpose of
the survey was to further understand the experience of new students both before they arrived at
University and during the first few weeks of semester, with the aim of identifying opportunities to
enhance the induction experience. Prior to this survey, there was only limited information available
on the induction experience which mainly related to international students.
The survey was undertaken with students who were in the first year of their Undergraduate or
Postgraduate course. This was done using two distinct surveys, each specifically targeted at either
Undergraduates (Freshers’ Week & University Induction Survey) or Postgraduate (University
Induction Survey) students. The surveys were initially sent out to students via an online surveys link
on the 2nd of October 2013, and the link was closed to respondents on the 22nd of October 2013. A
total of 1570 (24%) Undergraduate students and 1451 (32%) Postgraduate students completed the
survey.
This report provides a summary of the key findings with results by School included where possible.
For further information on the survey, please contact the Induction Team.
Key Findings
Pre-arrival information:








There is a high usage of webs resources by both UG and PG student prior to arrival at the
University.
New Student Webpages perform particularly well in terms of usefulness when compared to
other web resources.
EUSA web resources are perceived to be not as useful for PG students as they are for their
UG counterparts.
Twitter, whilst less likely to be used, is found to be relatively useful.
Postgraduates are more likely to receive information via email, whereas Undergraduates by
and large receive information in a paper format.
Emails sent by the University are considered to be more useful than those sent by EUSA.
Information that is being received is clear and concise, and Students do not feel overloaded
with info from different departments.
A low proportion of Students would like all communication by email, although email is a
more popular option for Postgraduate Students.
Events:


Students feel that more activities could be hosted by their Schools.
Postgraduates Students are less likely to get a Freshers’ Pass than their Undergraduate
counterparts, but of those who do, a similar proportion would recommend one to others.
1
Satisfaction, Community and Belonging:




By and large, both UG and PG students feel more positive than negative when they start
University.
Low proportions of both UG and PG samples said that they felt 'Confident I can cope with
the academic demand of my course'.
Students are generally satisfied with their experience so far.
Feelings of community and belonging vary greatly by School.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Summary report naming key
For expediency, this report uses standard abbreviations in place of full School names. Please
reference the table below as a key when reading this report.
Biological Sciences, School of
Biomedical Sciences, School of
Business School
Chemistry, School of
Clinical Sciences, School of
Divinity, School of
Economics, School of
Edinburgh College of Art
Education, The Moray House School of
Engineering, School of
Geosciences, School of
Health in Social Science, School of
History, Classics and Archaeology, School of
Informatics, School of
Law, School of
Literatures, Languages and Cultures, School of
Mathematics, School of
Medicine, College of
Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences, School of
Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, School of
Physics and Astronomy, School of
Social and Political Science, School of
Veterinary Studies, Royal (Dick) School of
2
BIO
BMS
BUS
CHE
CSC
DIV
ECN
ECA
EDU
ENG
GEO
HEA
HCA
INF
LAW
LLC
MAT
MED
MGP
PPLS
PHY
SPS
VET
Demographics
Samples, Schools and Students


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

The Undergraduate focused Freshers’ Week & University Induction Survey saw 1570
completions, around 24% of the overall sample.
The Postgraduate focused University Induction Survey had 1451 responses and generated a
more robust completion rate of around 32%.
On a School-by-School basis, Undergraduate respondents were broadly representative of the
overall sample. However, though there was some stand out figures.
o A higher than average proportion of UG LLC students completed the survey (39%).
o However, UG EDU students were under represented, achieving a response rate of
just 12% of their overall sample.
Postgraduate respondents were also by and large representative of the sample surveyed,
with the majority of Schools achieving response rates in the high 20’s and low 30’s.
o PG HCA students had a higher than average response rate, with 37% of students
completing the survey.
o Whilst PG LAW students were under represented as a result of low completion rate
(17%).
UG is a sample dominated by full-time students (98%), although the PG sample is only
slightly behind at 95%.
Accommodation, age and origin





The majority of the UG respondents stated that they were living in University
Accommodation (81%), compared to the PG survey where 37% indicated that this was the
case.
PG students had a higher average age (27) than their UG counterparts (19). The majority of
Postgraduate students categorised themselves as being aged between 21 and 29 whereas
UG respondents were most likely to be aged 16-20 (84%)
In terms of National Origin, Scottish students were the largest group in the UG sample,
making up around 31% of respondents.
o The remainder of the UG survey respondents categorised themselves as originating
from the following locations. - Rest of UK – 22%, E.U. – 22%, Rest of the World 26%.
The majority of PG respondents classified themselves as from outside of the UK (E.U - 22%,
Rest of the World 55%).
o Scottish students make up around 14% of the PG sample, with Students from
England, Wales or Northern Ireland accounting for 9%.
It is worth noting that both UG and PG samples are broadly representative of the actual
demographic composition of the University
3
Pre-arrival information
Respondents were asked to provide details of their use of various UoE and EUSA web resources prior
to their arrival at the University. Questions allowed for the respondent to state whether or not they
had used a resource and, if they had done so, how useful they found it.
Access

High proportions of both UG and PG students had used UoE or EUSA websites or social
media prior to their arrival at University (83% of Undergraduate students and 78% of PG
students).
o PHY Undergraduate students were the most likely to use these resources prior to
their arrival, with 92% saying they had done so.
o Other schools in which a high proportion of UG students had used either websites or
social media were BIO (91%) and ECN (89%).
o Looking at the PG sample, SPS were the most likely (89%). Other Schools where a
high proportion of PG students used resources prior to arrival were PPLS (85%) and
ECA (85%).
o BUS UG students were least likely to use UoE or EUSA websites or social media prior
to their arrival (74%) whereas the lowest proportion from the PG sample came from
ENG (65%).
Table 1.1 – UG &PG Students use of web resources
Did you use any University of Edinburgh/EUSA websites
or social media before you arrived at University?
83%
78%
UG
PG
22%
17%
Yes


No
Of the 17% of UG and 22% OF PG students who did not access UoE or EUSA websites or
social media prior to their arrival, the most common reason given for not doing so was 'I
didn't know about them' (UG-67%, PG-61%)
Other students suggested they already had the information they needed (26% of UG and
33% of PG students) or 'I didn't have enough time' (16% of UG and 14% of PG students).
See appendixes UG.6, UG.7, PG.6 and PG.7 for further details.
4
Resource Use and Usefulness




Overall, both UG and PG respondents gave similar responses with regards to which web
resources they accessed prior to their arrival and how useful they found these websites to
be. Results by School were broadly similar.
'University School/College website' received a high usage rate from both UG and PG samples
(UG-93%, PG-98%).
o Lowest usage rate for this site came from EDU for UG (80%) and BIO for PG (90%),
although these are both relatively high figures.
o Both UG and PG students gave this resource a high average rating of usefulness, as
93% of Undergraduates and 95% of Postgraduates saying that it was either 'Very' or
'Somewhat useful'.
A high proportion of both UG (91%) and PG (93%) students also used the 'New Student
webpages on the University of Edinburgh website'.
o Rates of usage across Schools were much more variable for this resource, ranging
from 82% (BUS) to 97% (MAT) for UG and 85% (GEO) to 98% (SPS) for PG.
o Ratings of usefulness were high for this resource, with 95% of UG's and 94% of PG's
saying that it was in some way useful.
o Students from all Schools gave this resource a usefulness rating of 90% or above in
both the UG and PG samples.
Other noticeable trends include –
o University sites/social media are more likely to be used (UG-76%, PG-72%) than
EUSA sites/social media (UG-58%, PG-45%), with particularly low levels of
engagement with EUSA resources coming from GEO for UG (48%) and HEA for PG
(38%)
o UG students consider EUSA resources to more useful (81%) than their PG
counterparts (74%), with particularly low ratings coming from PG BIO students (63%
vs. 87% UG BIO).
o There is a broad similarity in average ratings of use and usefulness for UoE resources
across Schools and both samples (Used: UG-76%, PG-72%. Usefulness: UG-82%, PG81%).
o The overall low usage and perceived usefulness of Twitter sites (University of
Edinburgh Twitter - UG: Use-25%, Usefulness-50%. PG: Use-27%, Usefulness-57%.
EUSA Twitter - UG: Use-20%, Usefulness-59%. PG: Use-22%, Usefulness-53%).
o Positively, there appears to be no School with particularly low levels of engagement
with web resources across both UG and PG samples.
See appendixes UG.8, UG.9, PG.8 and PG.9 for further details.
5
Table 1.2 – UG Students’ ratings of usefulness for specific web resources.
How useful did you find the following University of
Edinburgh/ EUSA sites? - UG
Used this
site
Very
useful
New Student webpa ges on the Uni vers i ty of Edi nburgh webs i te
91%
45%
50%
5%
0%
Uni vers i ty of Edi nburgh Twi tter
25%
14%
36%
40%
9%
79%
34%
52%
13%
2%
44%
6%
1%
Uni vers i ty of Edi nburgh Fa cebook pa ges
Somewhat Not very
useful
useful
Not at all
useful
Uni vers i ty School /Col l ege webs i te
93%
49%
Uni vers i ty a ccommoda tion webs i te
88%
46%
40%
11%
2%
Uni vers i ty s ervi ces webs i te (e.g. Fi na nce)
78%
30%
53%
15%
2%
EUSA Fres hers ’ Week webs i te
87%
52%
40%
7%
1%
EUSA Webs i te
72%
37%
52%
11%
1%
63%
36%
46%
15%
3%
EUSA Fa cebook
48%
35%
48%
15%
3%
EUSA Twi tter
20%
19%
40%
32%
9%
EUSA Fres hers ’ Week Fa cebook pa ge
Table 1.3 – PG Students’ ratings of usefulness for specific web resources.
How useful did you find the following University of
Edinburgh/ EUSA sites? - PG
Used this
site
Very
useful
Somewhat Not very
useful
useful
Not at all
useful
New Student webpa ges on the Uni vers i ty of Edi nburgh webs i te
93%
50%
44%
5%
1%
Uni vers i ty of Edi nburgh Twi tter
27%
12%
44%
34%
9%
Uni vers i ty of Edi nburgh Fa cebook pa ges
60%
26%
51%
19%
4%
35%
5%
1%
Uni vers i ty School /Col l ege webs i te
98%
59%
Uni vers i ty a ccommoda tion webs i te
69%
38%
40%
16%
5%
Uni vers i ty s ervi ces webs i te (e.g. Fi na nce)
87%
38%
48%
11%
3%
EUSA Fres hers ’ Week webs i te
66%
35%
49%
15%
2%
EUSA Webs i te
66%
31%
54%
14%
2%
EUSA Fres hers ’ Week Fa cebook pa ge
34%
27%
44%
24%
5%
EUSA Fa cebook
36%
28%
47%
20%
5%
EUSA Twi tter
22%
12%
41%
38%
9%
Distribution and Formats
Respondents were provided with a list of information sources and asked to select which format
they received this information prior to their arrival at University – Printed copy, Email Version or
Viewed Online.
 Whilst UG students were on average more likely to remember receiving a document than
their PG counter parts (69% vs. 60%), there were high levels of variability when this figure
was compared between Schools.
 The document Undergraduates were most likely to recall receiving was ‘An Application form
for your University card’ (89% vs. PG 78%)
o At a School level, UG Veterinary students were the most likely to recall receiving this
(98%) . However, the School registering the lowest proportion for UG students was
CHE, from which only 68% of respondents recalled receiving the application form for
their University Card.
o PG results ranged from 70% in EDU to 87% for INF.
 The document which the highest proportion for Postgraduates remember receiving was ‘A
Registration form from Academic Registry’ (87% vs. UG 85%).
o The proportion of PG's who recall receiving this document across the Schools were
broadly similar, with results falling between 85% (PPLS) and 93% (ENG and BIO).
6
o



Schools performance for UG students were far more varied, with 95% of BUS
students recalling receiving the document, whilst just 68% of CHE students could
confirm they had done so.
UG respondents were more likely to received information in a paper format (62%) than their
PG counterparts (38%). Postgraduates were also more likely to have received an email (44%
vs. UG 34%) or viewed information online with (26% vs. UG 15%).
The results would suggest that certain Schools favour specific methods of information
distribution.
o A higher than average proportion of ENG students say that they received their
information by Email (UG-43%, PG-45%) or viewed it online (UG-22%, PG-39%) as
opposed to receiving paper copies (UG-50%, PG-28%).
o Whereas LAW students were more likely than average to receive information in a
paper format (UG-71%, PG-45%).
Whilst similar proportions of UG and PG students recall receiving UoE communications (both
68%), Undergraduate students were on average more likely to recall receiving EUSA
communications (69%) than PG students (43%).
o Both UG and PG BUS students demonstrated noticeably lower than average levels of
engagement with EUSA communications (UG-63%, PG-35%).
See appendixes UG.10, UG.11, PG.10 and PG.11 for further details.
Usefulness




Overall, communications from the University were either 'Very' or 'Somewhat' useful for
high proportions of both UG (86%) and PG (89%) respondents.
o In both the UG and PG samples, EDU students gave noticeably higher than average
ratings of usefulness for University communications (UG-94%, PG-91%).
The same can also be said of EUSA communication (82% for UG and PG), though the
'Congratulations email from EUSA' received by UG students (59%) was generally considered
less useful. (This document was not circulated amongst Postgraduates).
o Ratings of usefulness for EUSA communications were particularly high amongst UG
ECA (90%) and EDU (89%) students and PG LLC and INF students (both 88%).
On a School level, the majority of Students in both the UG and PG samples gave UoE
communications a higher rating of usefulness when compared to communications
originating from EUSA.
In comparison to other communications, both UG and PG funding guides were given lower
than average ratings of usefulness (UG-73%, PG-78).
See appendixes UG.12 and PG.12 for further details.
7
Table 1.4 - UG Students’ ratings of usefulness for information received on arrival.
How useful did you find this information? - UG
Very
useful
Somewhat Not very
useful
useful
Not at all
useful
Uni vers i ty Undergra dua te Wel come Gui de
35%
55%
9%
1%
Interna tiona l Student Gui de
38%
47%
12%
2%
A wel come l etter / pa ck from your School or Progra mme
35%
48%
15%
2%
A Regi s tra tion form from Aca demi c Regi s try
56%
35%
7%
2%
An Appl i ca tion form for your Uni vers i ty ca rd
67%
27%
5%
1%
Fundi ng for Undergra dua te Students 2013-2014 bookl et
30%
44%
20%
7%
Congra tul a tions ema i l from EUSA
20%
40%
31%
10%
EUSA “Wha t’s On Gui de”
68%
26%
5%
1%
EUSA “The Undergra dua te’s Survi va l Gui de”
43%
41%
13%
3%
EUSA “Gui de to Soci eties ”
56%
37%
6%
1%
Table 1.5 - PG Students’ ratings of usefulness for information received on arrival.
How useful did you find this information? - PG
Very
useful
Somewhat Not very
useful
useful
Not at all
useful
Uni vers i ty Pos tgra dua te Wel come Gui de
39%
54%
7%
1%
Interna tiona l Student Gui de
41%
47%
10%
2%
A wel come l etter / pa ck from your School or Progra mme
44%
45%
10%
1%
A Regi s tra tion form from Aca demi c Regi s try
57%
35%
6%
2%
An Appl i ca tion form for your Uni vers i ty ca rd
66%
27%
5%
2%
Fundi ng for Pos tgra dua te Students 2013-2014 bookl et
34%
44%
18%
4%
EUSA “Wha t’s On Gui de”
31%
51%
15%
2%
EUSA “Pos tgra dua te Gui de”
28%
54%
15%
2%
EUSA “Gui de to Soci eties ”
30%
50%
17%
2%
Nature of the information received
Respondents were asked to state whether they agreed or disagreed with various statements
concerning the information they had received prior to their arrival.

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Overall, Undergraduate and Postgraduate respondents demonstrated similar sentiments
when asked to remark on a variety of statements concerning the nature of information they
had received. As well as this, there was little variation of responses at a School level.
Both UG and PG respondents were most likely to agree that 'The information I received was
clear and concise'. ('Strongly agree' or 'Slightly agree' from 88% of Undergraduates and 86%
of Postgraduates).
o At a School level, PG results were broadly similar, ranging from 83% for LLC to 92%
for HEA.
o UG responses were more diverse, ranging from 77% for INF to 98% for LAW.
Low proportions of both samples agreed with the statement 'I received information from
too many different departments' (UG-35%, PG-40%).
Around three quarters of both the UG and PG samples agreed that 'The information I
received made it clear what actions I needed to take (if any)' (UG - 73%, PG - 75%).
o UG MAT students (85%) and PG HEA students (89%) were particularly agreeable to
this statement.
Approximately 1 in 4 PG students (23%), and 1 in 5 UG students, (18%) agreed with the
statement 'I received contradictory or incomplete information'.
8



The proportion of PG respondents who agreed with the statement 'In future, the University
should only send information by email' (36%) was noticeably higher than the proportion of
their UG counterparts who found this statement to be agreeable (19%).
o The School with the highest proportion of students who disagreed with this
statement from the UG sample was LAW with 70%, whilst the highest from the PG
sample was 52% from BIO.
UG students were almost twice as likely to disagree with the statement 'In future, EUSA
should only send information by email (51%) than they were to agree with it (27%).
However, the opposite is true for PG respondents (44% agree, 27% disagree).
See appendixes UG.13 and PG.13 for further details
Table 1.6 - UG & PG responses to statements regarding Communications
88% 86%
UG
67%
73% 75%
71%
PG
65%
61%
57%
40% 40% 37%
35%
36%
20%
16% 15% 18%
17%
44%
38%
51%
27%
27%
23%
19%
6% 8%
Agree
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
The information I I received information It was clear how to
The information I
received was clear and
from too many
contact someone if I received made it clear
concise
different departments
had a query
what actions I needed
to take (if any)
Agree
Disagree
I received
contradictory or
incomplete
information
Agree
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
In future, the
In future, EUSA should
University should only only send information
send information by
by email
email
Events
UoE and EUSA events
Respondents were provided with a list of events and activities run by both the University and EUSA
in the first weeks of term and were asked if they had attended this event, and if so how useful they
had found it.



The average event attendance rate was similar for Undergraduate (45%) and Postgraduate
(42%) samples.
o Both samples showed similar levels of variation at a School level, with the UG
sample ranging from 34% (VET) to 52% (ENG), and the PG sample falling between
32% (PPLS) and 54% (BUS).
On average, both UG and PG students found the events that they attended to be of similar
levels of perceived usefulness, with an average of 82% of Undergraduates and 85% of
Postgraduates saying that they were either 'Very useful' or 'Somewhat useful'.
The most attended event for both UG and PG students was 'Meeting my Personal Tutor or
Supervisor', with 95% of UG students and 91% of PG students stating that they attended. Of
these 86% of UG students and 91% of PG students found useful.
9
o




The UG sample saw a particularly high level of attendance at PT meetings from BIO,
from which only 1% of respondents stated that they did not attend. Of the 99% who
did attend, 86% found it useful.
o A high proportion of UG students from VET (23%) and MED (42%) did not attend this
meeting. Whilst of the UG VET students who did attend, 68% found it useful - the
lowest proportion of the UG sample - 92% of the UG MED attendees rated the event
as either 'Very useful' or 'Somewhat useful', the second highest in the UG sample
behind PHY's 98%.
o Respondents from HCA were the most likely group from the PG sample to attend
this event, with just 1% indicating that they had not done so.
o PG HCA student also rated the event highly in terms of usefulness (96%), falling just
short of PPLS at 98%.
o Approximately 1 in 5 PG LAW students (22%) did not attend a 'Meeting my Personal
Tutor or Supervisor. 88% of those that did attend found it to be useful, just below
the PG average of 91%.
The Societies Fair was also highly attended by UG students, with just 87% signalling that they
attended this event in comparison to the PG samples corresponding proportion of 55%.
o Of the proportion who did attend this event, 95% of UG students found it useful in
comparison to the 88% of PG students who felt the same way.
o A particularly high proportion of UG PHY students signalled that they attended the
Societies Fair, with just 2% saying that they did not attend this event.
A relatively low percentage of UG students who used the 'Pay my fees/discuss finance query'
and 'collect my Student Card' services offered by Adam House (18% and 42%).
o However, those that did gave these services higher than average usefulness ratings
(87% and 86% respectively).
35% of UG respondents thought the University Welcome Ceremony was either not very or at
all useful. The Trade Fair and the Making the most of IT sessions were the next lowest rated
in terms of usefulness (74% and 77% respectively). For PG respondents the PhD Movie
(70%), Trade Fair (76%) and Welcome Ceremony (79%) were the three events rated least
useful.
On average, University run events had a higher attendance rate (54%) amongst
Postgraduates than those organised by EUSA (25%).
o PG HEA students exhibited a particularly low level of engagement with EUSA events
(17% attended vs. 45% attended for UoE events).
See appendixes UG.14, UG.15, PG.14 and PG.15 for further details
10
Table 1.7 - UG ratings of usefulness for events attended.
Very
useful
How useful did you find this event? - UG
Somewhat Not very
useful
useful
Not at all
useful
Interna tiona l Wel come Da y
32%
52%
12%
4%
Uni vers i ty Wel come Ceremony
21%
43%
24%
11%
School /Progra mme wel come tal k
39%
44%
14%
4%
Addi tiona l School Induction events
32%
52%
13%
3%
Meeting my Pers ona l Tutor
52%
34%
10%
4%
Vi s i ting Students Wel come meeting (Huma ni ties & Soci a l Sci ences )
41%
45%
11%
3%
Vi s i ting Students Wel come meeting (Sci ence & Engi neeri ng)
42%
46%
10%
3%
Aca demi c Fa i r
35%
43%
16%
6%
Li bra ry Tours
37%
43%
14%
6%
Getti ng Connected drop-i n s es s i ons offered by Informa tion Servi ces
43%
41%
11%
4%
Ma ki ng the Mos t of IT optiona l works hop
33%
44%
16%
7%
Vi s i ting Ada m Hous e to pa y my fees /di s cus s fi na nce query
43%
44%
11%
2%
Vi s i ting Ada m Hous e to col l ect my Student Ca rd
54%
32%
11%
3%
Soci eties Fa i r
61%
34%
4%
1%
Tra de Fa i r
36%
37%
17%
9%
Table 1.8 - PG ratings of usefulness for events attended.
Very
useful
How useful did you find this event? - PG
Somewhat Not very
useful
useful
Not at all
useful
Interna tiona l Da y
36%
53%
10%
1%
Uni vers i ty Wel come Ceremony
32%
47%
17%
4%
Introduction to Pos tgra dua te Res ea rch Study
40%
45%
12%
3%
Introduction to Pos tgra dua te Ta ught Study
42%
47%
8%
3%
Studyi ng a t a Scotti s h Uni vers i ty
29%
53%
15%
2%
School /Progra mme wel come tal k
53%
39%
7%
2%
Addi tiona l School Induction events
46%
45%
8%
1%
Meeting my Pers ona l Tutor or Supervi s or
65%
26%
7%
2%
Li bra ry Tours
41%
42%
14%
3%
"Get Connected" drop-i n s es s i ons offered by Informa tion Servi ces
44%
39%
14%
3%
"Ma ki ng the Mos t of IT" optiona l works hop
37%
43%
15%
5%
Vi s i ting Ada m Hous e to pa y my fees /di s cus s fi na nce query
53%
35%
9%
4%
Vi s i ting Ada m Hous e to col l ect my Student Ca rd
64%
29%
5%
1%
Soci eties Fa i r
45%
43%
9%
3%
Tra de Fa i r
31%
45%
17%
7%
Ma na gi ng your Supervi s or for PhD s tudents
39%
45%
13%
3%
PG Speed Networki ng
32%
49%
16%
3%
Ma ture Students a t Edi nburgh event
35%
50%
13%
3%
PG Res ea rch Wi ne Reception
40%
44%
12%
4%
PG a nd Ma ture Students Cei l i dh
47%
41%
9%
3%
PG a nd Ma ture Students Wi ne Reception
41%
43%
13%
3%
The PhD Movi e
26%
43%
22%
9%
The number of events

Students were asked whether they were satisfied with the amount of events provided by the
university, their school and EUSA during Induction Week. Students were most likely to
suggest there were too few 'Activities hosted by your school' (UG - 38%, PG - 31%).
o Looking at the UG sample, close to half (48%) of GEO and PPLS students felt that too
few events were hosted by their School, whilst just 14% of MED and 8% of VET
students felt the same way.
o Conversely, just 15% of PG GEO students felt that too few events were hosted by
their School, whilst the figure for PG PPLS (42%) was closer to its UG counterpart.
11


Just 9% of both UG and PG samples felt that there were too few central induction activities
on offer, as similar proportions selected just enough (UG-83%, PG-77%)
o The School with the highest proportion of UG students who felt that there were just
enough Central Induction activities was VET (98%), whilst just 73% of UG ECN
students felt the same way.
The perception of EUSA events was broadly similar across both samples and Schools with
around three quarters suggesting the amount of events was just right.
o EUSA daytime events - Too few: UG-19%, PG-16%. Too many: UG-11%, PG-13%. Just
enough: UG-70%, PG-71%.
o EUSA evening events - Too few: UG-16%, PG-15%. Too many: UG-12%, PG-12%. Just
enough: UG-72%, PG-73%.
See appendixes UG.16 and PG.16 for further details
Table 1.9 - UG & PG responses regarding amounts of events available from specified suppliers
UG
83%
PG
77%
72% 73%
70% 71%
66%
58%
38%
31%
9% 9%
Too few
7%
19% 16%
14%
11% 13%
16% 15%
12% 12%
4% 3%
Just Too many Too few
Just Too many Too few
Just Too many Too few
Just Too many
enough
enough
enough
enough
Central Induction activities
(e.g. University Welcome,
International Day, Academic
Fair)
Activities hosted by your
School
EUSA daytime events (e.g.
see the city tours, societies
events)
EUSA evening events (e.g.
clubnights, comedy)
Non-academic events and Freshers' Pass.


Undergraduate students were more than twice as likely to attend a non-academic event as
Postgraduate students (43% vs. 19%).
o INF students were the most likely from the PG sample to attend a non-academic
event (28%), though the proportion that did was still short of their UG counterparts
(40%).
o Both UG and PG students were most likely to have attended a society event (UG67%, PG-38%). A particularly high level of HCA students from both samples signalling
they attended this type of event (UG-78%, PG-53%)
Postgraduates were over four times as likely as their Undergraduate counterparts to indicate
that they had not attended any of the listed event options (43% to UG's 11%).
o Almost 2 out of 3 PG HEA students saying that this was the case (64%) in comparison
to the UG high of 28% from VET.
12



An average of 52% of Undergraduates bought a Freshers’ Week Pass in comparison to just
3% of Postgraduates.
o Just 20% OF UG VET students opted to purchase a Freshers' pass, the lowest
proportion for a specific School.
UG's who bought a pass did so either 'Before arriving' or 'During Freshers' Week' on a
roughly 50-50 basis, whilst PG's were slightly more likely to do so during Fresher's Week
(56% to 44% who bought it before arriving).
The proportion of UG's who bought a Pass and would recommend was 60%, only marginally
higher than the 54% of PG's who do the same.
See appendixes UG.17, UG.18, PG.17 and PG.18 for further details
Satisfaction, Community and Belonging
First impressions







When Undergraduate Students were provided with list of feelings and asked which
described how they were feeling a few weeks into the semester, positive feelings (43%)
were on average chosen more often than negative feelings (27%).
o Looking at the UG sample, the School with the highest average for positive feelings
was MED (54%) and the lowest was BUS (32%).
The most common response from UG students was 'Excited about living independently'
(49%).
o On a School by School basis, twice the proportion of UG MED students felt this way
(67%) than their UG EDU counterparts (32%).
The most common response that could be considered to be negative was 'Worried about
money'. 38% of Undergraduates identified with this.
o UG VET students were slightly more likely to be concerned about money (55%).
Conversely, this appeared to be less of a concern amongst UG MED and ENG
students (27%).
Whilst Postgraduate students were, on average, almost as likely to have negative feelings a
few weeks into the semester as Undergraduates (25%), positive emotions were, on average,
selected slightly less (38%) than they were by the UG sample.
o PG GEO students were the most likely to select positive emotions (48%) whilst PG
PPLS students were the most likely to select negative ones (31%).
PG students were less likely than their UG counterparts to choose 'Excited' (37% to UG 46%)
and 'Confident'(24% vs. UG 35%) as being representative of how they were feeling.
o PG EDU students provide particularly low scores in both of these areas (25% and
14% respectively).
PG students were also less likely to be 'Concerned about making friends’ (21% vs. UG 28%),
with only 13% of PG PPLS students expressing this concern.
Similarly low proportions of both UG and PG samples said that they felt 'Confident I can cope
with the academic demand of my course' (UG-35%, PG-36%).
o A particularly low proportion of EDU students from both samples felt this way (UG20%, PG-28%).
13

Also notable is the relative proximity of responses for 'Worried about money' (UG-38%, PG35%) as this suggests similar levels of concern across both groups.
See appendixes UG.19 and PG.19 for further details
Table 1.10 - UG & PG feelings early in the semester
UG
57%
49%
48%
46%
37%
29%
38%
35%
33%
24%
15%
Excited
Nervous
Confused
35%
35%
36%
28%
25%
21%
18%
16%
Confident
Concerned
about making
friends
Worried about
money
Excited about
my classes
Confident I can Missing home
cope with the
academic
demands of my
course
Excited about
living
independently
(UG only)
Satisfaction with experience so far



When asked 'How satisfied are you with your experience of the University so far?', 89% of
both UG and PG samples said that they were either 'Very' or 'Fairly' satisfied.
o Levels of satisfaction were particularly high amongst UG MED (95%) and PG GEO
students (98%), whilst being low for UG ENG (82%) and PG EDU (77%)
Undergraduates had a slightly higher satisfaction rating overall, with 45% feeling 'Very
Satisfied' in comparison to the Postgraduate rating of 38%.
Encouragingly, levels of dissatisfaction were very low in both samples, with 3% expressing
dissatisfaction and just less that 1% saying that they were 'Very dissatisfied'.
See appendixes UG.20 and PG.20 for further details
Table 1.11 - UG & PG levels of general satisfaction
50%
45%
44%
38%
UG
PG
8%
8%
2%
Very satisfied
PG
Fairly satisfied
Neither satisfied nor
dissatisfied
14
2%
Fairly dissatisfied
1%
1%
Very dissatisfied
Community




Stark differences between UG and PG students, both in general and at a School level,
emerged when students were asked about the communities they feel they belong too.
Whilst both UG and PG respondents are most likely to say that they feel they belong to the
'University of Edinburgh' (UG - 76%, PG - 66%), there is a clear difference between the two
samples at a School level.
o The UG sample ranges from a low of 45% (VET) to a high of 90% (CHE), whereas the
PG sample scores fall between 59% (ECA) and 86% (HEA).
On average, Undergraduates were more likely to express a sense of belonging to the 'Clubs
or societies I am involved in' (45%) and 'My accommodation site' (50%) than their Schools
(43%) or subject area (41%). However, it is worth noting that there is a large amount of
variation of these figures at a School level.
o UG affiliation to 'Clubs or societies I am involved in' ranged from as low as 32%
(EDU), to as high as 61% (MED)
o The proportion of UG students expressing a sense of belonging to 'My
accommodation site' ranged from 25% (VET) to 63% (PHY)
o Whilst UG VET was the School with the highest proportion of students expressing
belonging to their School (90% vs. UG LLC's low of 20%), they had the lowest
proportion of students who felt they belonged to their subject area (18% vs. UG
MED's high of 63% UG LLC’s close to average 45%)
o An above average proportion of UG MED students felt affiliation towards the
'University of Edinburgh' (80% vs. UG average 76%), their School (69% vs. UG
average 43%), their subject area (63% vs. UG average 41%), societies (61% vs. UG
average 45%), and their accommodation site (58% vs. UG average 50%)
Postgraduate students felt a stronger sense of belonging to their School (59%) and subject
area (52%) than the 'Clubs or societies I am involved in' (17%) or 'My accommodation site'
(24%).
o Looking at responses School-by-School, the proportion of PG students who feel an
association with their School is between 47% (HEA and LLC) and 81% (BUS).
o PG affiliation to subject area almost reverses this trend, with BUS becoming the
School with the lowest proportion of students feeling an association with this area
(29%) and LLC becoming the second highest (72% vs. PPLS's high of 73%).
o Whilst no School had a particularly high proportion of PG students state an
affiliation with clubs or societies, the highest (INF - 35%) is over 7 times that offered
by the School with the lowest (HEA - 6%).
See appendixes UG.21 and PG.21 for further details
15
Table 1.12 - UG & PG sense of belonging to specific groups
76%
UG
66%
59%
52%
43%
41%
PG
50%
45%
35%
32%
24%
17%
4%
University of
Edinburgh
My School (i.e.
My specific
Clubs or societies I
My
Business,
Subject Area (i.e. am involved in accommodation
Edinburgh College English Literature,
site
of Art, Biologic
Spanish,
16
The City of
Edinburgh
3%
None of the above