Global student survey places Hudds in top two in UK

Globally, the University of Huddersfield was 12^th worldwide in the influential International Student Barometer

HUNDREDS of overseas students at the University of Huddersfield have returned a highly positive verdict on its teaching, facilities, accommodation and support services, so that it ranks as one of the top 20 institutions in the influential International Student Barometer (ISB).

The University’s International Office – which looks after the interests of the 3,000 students from abroad currently enrolled at Huddersfield – earned a particularly high rating, making in No 1 against its competitors and second overall in the UK.

The ISB conducts global surveys, inviting students to provide feedback on many dimensions of their university.  The latest exercise was carried out at the close of 2017 and involved 129 universities in 17 countries, including UK institutions.  A total of 110,386 students took part in the survey, including 800 at Huddersfield, from both the EU and the wider world.

The response rate at Huddersfield was higher than the UK average, and so were most of the scores in a wide range of categories.  There were high marks for factors such as the quality of lecturers, language support, accommodation, social activities and the campus buildings.

Overall, Huddersfield had marks that were four points higher than the mean across the whole survey, placing it at 13^th out all the global universities that took part.

Among the key findings from the latest ISB are the fact that Huddersfield’s overseas students gave an average 91.1 per cent approval rating for teaching.  The expertise of lecturers, marking criteria, assessment and learning support were among the factors that scored highly.

As a result, Huddersfield is 12^th in the 2018 ISB for teaching, and has the same ranking in the studies category, which includes elements such as language support and multi-culturalism.

There is a global 12^th place too for facilities, with the library (94.5 per cent) and technology (93.8 per cent) scoring highly.

Some of the most impressive survey results came in the support category.  An average mark of 94.2 per cent gives Huddersfield a global ISB ranking of fourth, with the International Office scoring 96.1 per cent, placing it at No 1 among the UK universities that took part and 12th across the world.

Accommodation support, counselling and the Students’ Union all received highly positive verdicts.  There was an exceptional score of 99.6 per cent for the iPoint advice centre and the provision of clubs and societies for international students earned 98.4 per cent.

Andrew Mandebura, who is Director of the International Office, is delighted by the strong ISB showing.

“This is an excellent achievement and a testament to the hard work that goes on across the office, particularly from everyone with front-line roles.  This kind of feedback is really helpful to our overall efforts,” he said.