International Student Barometer highlights 2016

Background Globally, 196 institutions across 17 countries participated in the ISB. In the UK, 42 institutions participated including Cambridge, Leeds, Loughborough, Oxford and York. The Scottish institutions taking part were Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian, Robert Gordon, Stirling, Strathclyde and UWS. The IBS survey was completed by EU and international students during May 2016 and reported at the end of September.

Participation The University of Stirling achieved a response rate of 30% against a Scottish response rate of 31%, a UK response rate of 27% and an overall response rate of 27%. Faculty Response Rate Response Headcount Population Headcount Arts & Humanities 31% 200 641 Health Sciences & Sport 27% 85 312 Natural Sciences 41% 198 479 Social Sciences 23% 49 211 Management School 25% 161 653 University 30% 693 2,301*

Key highlights Ranked top in Scotland and in the UK for campus environment with 97.7% satisfaction, against UK and Scottish averages of 92.1%. Campus environment, sports facilities and social activities all performed above the respective Scottish and UK averages. Ranked top in Scotland and second in the UK for sports facilities with 93.8% satisfaction, against a UK average of 82.4% and a Scottish average of 84.4%.

Key highlights Ranked top in Scotland for the arrival section with 91.7% satisfaction, against a UK average of 89.3% and a Scottish average of 89.1%. Within the learning section, Stirling were ranked top in Scotland for good teachers (92.1% satisfaction), quality lectures (91.2% satisfaction) and performance feedback (85.2% satisfaction). Stirling scored 90.4% in the support satisfaction section, which was higher than the averages in Scotland (89.4%) and the UK (89.5%).

Areas for improvement Accommodation quality, accommodation cost and transport links all scored lower than the Scottish and UK averages. An in-depth analysis of the accommodation issues raised has been undertaken and an action plan developed