UK international students more satisfied than ever

The latest results from the International Student Barometer i-graduate’s survey of international students, revealed that an increasing number of students are satisfied with the UK education system. 81 percent of students reported that they were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with university life in the UK.

Since 2006, satisfaction levels have increased the most significantly in the following areas:

 

• Language support (up from 77 per cent to 85 per cent satisfaction);
• Work experience (up from 52 per cent to 62 per cent);

• Careers advice (up from 59 per cent to 69 per cent);

• Multiculturalism (up from 82 per cent to 90 per cent);
• Worship facilities (up from 76 per cent to 85 per cent);
• Cost of living (up from 61 per cent to 68 per cent);
• Visa advice (up from 74 per cent to 81 per cent);

• Learning support (up from 77 per cent to 86 per cent);

• Libraries (up from 79 per cent to 86 per cent).

 

William Archer, Director of i-graduate, who published the survey, said: “The students who provided feedback for this report came from over 100 countries to the UK. The extent of the challenge - for UK universities to meet the myriad of expectations from multiple cultures - cannot be overstated. So something has been going very right in UK higher education in its delivery against the expectations of international students”.

 

 

The International Student Barometer is the world’s largest ongoing study of international students. The bi-annual survey asks students how satisfied they are with university life - from aspects such as the library facilities to making friends with students from the host country. Since 2005 the survey has been adopted by universities across five continents and has been completed by more than 580,000 students worldwide.
 

The 2010 UK International Student Barometer was taken by students from 48 UK institutions. The full report can be downloaded from the British Council website [PDF 1.03Mb].