QMC Campus Survey Results Analysis

The ‘How Can We Help’ survey was answered by 299 respondents who identified as studying on the QMC Campus. It was distributed between 18th December 2016 to the 23rd January 2017.

Question 3 – What stage of study are you currently in?

The majority of respondents are in their undergraduate years of study, however 21% are Postgraduate Students.

Question 12 – Are you satisfied/unsatisfied with the performance of your Students’ Union? 1 = Extremely Unsatisfied, 10 = Extremely Satisfied.

The question was answered by 273 students. The average response was 6.84/10, suggesting that students were responded more positively than negatively, although satisfaction was not overwhelming. The highest response was 8/10, which received 25.27% of responses, suggesting that around a quarter of students are satisfied with the Students’ Union. The average University wide response was a 7/10 rating, suggesting that QMC students are not far below the University average.

Comments included responses that suggested the SU need greater transparency and accountability to the students. Many comments suggested that students at QMC feel distanced from the SU, as they have little interaction with them, or feel unsupported. It was commented that this is specific to healthcare students, as they don’t feel like they have the opportunity to get involved with what the SU offer. Across comments, the impression was made that the SU needs to be more viable to students studying on QMC campus.
Some comments specific to Postgraduate respondents said that they felt there was little to no activity for Postgraduates run by the SU.

There were positive comments, particularly for MedSoc, which students felt involved with.

Question 16 – On average, how often do you engage with the Students’ Union during term time?

The question was answered by 249 students.

The question contained four areas, which included:

  • Physically visit SU space
  • Browse SU social media or their website
  • Volunteer, fundraise of work for the SU (this includes in student run services)
  • Attend a session or meeting for clubs/societies that you are a member of

Once a Week (1) / Once/twice a week (2) / Once a Term (3) / Once a year (4) / Never (5) / Average
Physically visit SU space / x / 3.12
Browse SU media online / x / 3.06
Volunteer/work for SU / x / 4.29
Attend a club or society / x / 2.74

The most frequent way that students on the QMC campus engage with the Students Union is through attending a club or society meeting. They are least likely to volunteer or work for the SU, which most students say happens once a year or less.

In comparison to the wider student population, students on the QMC campus are less likely to physically visit SU space or browse SU media online. Whilst this is only a slight difference, it is the most significant out of the four categories.

Question 17 – What does the Students’ Union (SU) do and how does it operate? Which of the following statements are true/false?

This question was answered by 250 students. The five statements were:

The SU is a university department.
The SU is a charity.
Income raised by the SU is reinvested into enhancing student experience.
You have to register and pay to be a member of the SU.
The SU represents students on local and national issues.

For all of the statements, most students responded with the correct answer. This was overwhelmingly true for the final three statements, as over 80% of students responded correctly for each statement. The first two questions saw students more unsure, however approximately 45% of students still responded with the correct answer. Statement two saw the most students unsure, with 23% responding with ‘I’m not sure’ and 30% with the incorrect answer, ‘false’.

In comparison to the overall student population, an equal amount – if not more – students from the QMC campus answered correctly. The below chart shows a comparison of correct respondents for each statement. As you can see, similarly low responses were collected for the first two statements, and a similar high response of correct answers was seen in the latter three.

Percentage of correct responses
QMC Students / Whole Student Body
The SU is a University department / 47.2% / 50.41%
The SU is a charity / 46.4% / 43.02%
Income raised by the SU is reinvested into enhancing student experience / 89.56% / 90.59%
You have to register and pay to be a member of the SU / 84.40% / 82.25%
The SU represents students on local and national issues / 89.56% / 86.14%

Question 18 – Below are seven statements describing the Students’ Union. To what extent do you agree or disagree that your current Students’ Union is acting the way that each statement describes?

This question was answered by 249 students. They were asked to respond on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being ‘Strongly Disagree’ and 5 ‘Strongly Agree’.

Statement / Average Response
The Students’ Union is... ‘a student led community, independent from the University. We’re 33,000 connected people that share, support and inspire each other’ / 3.6/5
The Students’ Union purpose is... ‘to make student like at the University of Nottingham be the best it can be’ / 3.9/5
The Students’ Union will be... ‘A place for everyone. We will share, support and inspire each other to create a welcoming community which every student feels a part of’ / 3.7/5
The Students’ Union is... ‘Welcoming, supportive, straight-talking and vibrant’ / 3.5/5
The Students’ Union helps to... ‘Drive opportunities, learning and development’ / 3.4/5
The Students’ Union helps to... ‘Voice and effect changes we want to see’ / 3.3/5
The Students’ Union... ‘Champions every community students belong to’ / 3.3/5

All responses fell at an average of between 3 and 4, suggesting that students felt neutral or agreed with the statement, with a lean towards agreeing with the statements. There was no particularly strong positive or negative response, to any of the questions. This might suggest that either students are respond neutrally to these aims of the Students’ Union, or that they don’t see or miss them significantly. A particularly high amount of disagreeing responses were given for the final two statements, with 21.86% and 22.17% students respectively giving responses of 2 or below. High positive responses were seen for the second and third statements, with 72.69% and 59.44% students respectively giving responses of 4 and 5. This suggests that it is these two areas which are see most strongly by students on the QMC campus.

In comparison to the wider student population, similar responses were seen across all areas, with no significant differences.

Question 19 – Here are lots of words/terms that have been used by students to describe the Students’ Union. Please choose the three that you most agree with right now. If you feel a word is missing, please add this in by choosing other.

This question was answered by 250 students. The following graph shows the proportion of responses:

The highest three responses were:

  • Societies and Sports
  • Events and Activities
  • Welfare/Support

The responses provided as ‘other’ were majoritively negative. They included comments such as:
Undemocratic
Exclusive
Insular
Unseen
Useless
Out of touch

This highlights that students at the QMC campus seem to find the SU something they aren’t involved or cannot become involved with. However, interestingly, in comparison to the wider student population’s responses, QMC students rated higher ‘Welfare/Support’ as something they see the in the SU. Instead, the wider student population included ‘Mooch Bar’ as one of their top three ways to describe the SU. This could suggest that students on QMC campus recognise the welfare aspect of the SU greater than the general student population.

Other differences to the wider student population include the fact that students from the QMC campus did not recognise ‘straight talking’, ‘for postgraduates’ or ‘vibrant’ as qualities of the SU, each receiving a single vote or none at all. However, they were recognised by the wider student population. Students from the QMC campus also found the SU to be something ‘for undergraduates’ more than the wider student population, with it receiving 12.4% of responses compared to 9.92%.

Question 20 – Who co-ordinates the following student services?

This question was answered by 250 students. They were given the chance to answer one of six responses to each department.

I’ve not heard of this service before / University / Students’ Union / Both Uni and Su / Neither Uni or SU / Not Sure
Volunteering / 5.2% / 1.6% / 27.2% / 46% / 1.6% / 18.4%
Societies / 0.80% / 2.01% / 67.87% / 19.68% / 0.4% / 9.24%
Course Reps / 0.4% / 37.75% / 17.67% / 29.72% / 0.4% / 14.06%
Student Advice Centre / 2.4% / 24.40% / 24.4% / 36% / 0.4% / 12.4%

The area most accurately known as being run by the SU societies, whereas the other areas were answered correctly by less than 30% of students. The area with the least accuracy was course representatives, with more students thinking they are co-ordinated by the University. The area students were least sure about was volunteering, with 18% of students unsure what to answer.

In comparison to the wider student population, more students correctly responded to all but the first service. Significantly, more students on the QMC campus knew that the Student Advice Centre is co-ordinated by the SU. This suggests that students on the QMC campus are a small amount more aware of the services that the SU co-ordinate, however the difference is not significant.

Question 21 – Are you a member of/involved in any sports clubs, societies or volunteering opportunities at the Universities of Nottingham?

This question was answered by 85 students. Students were given the opportunity to respond in one of six ways to the question. The percentage of results for each category are shown below:

No, I have no intention to become a member/get involved / No, but I have considered it / No, but I have identified a group or opportunity I’m interested in / No, but I will join/get involved in the near future / Yes, I’ve recently joined/got involved / Yes, I’ve been a member for longer than 6 months
Society / 8.24% / 21.18% / 11.76% / 3.53% / 27.06% / 28.24%
Sports Club / 16.47% / 16.47% / 15.29% / 5.88% / 20% / 25.88%
Volunteering Opportunity / 23.53% / 41.18% / 8.24% / 8.24% / 11.76% / 7.06%

The majority of students on the QMC campus are involved with a society, only a slightly smaller amount that that of the wider student population.
However, the same cannot be said of sports and volunteering. Just under half of QMC students are involved with a sports club, at 45% and under 20% are involved with volunteering opportunities. However, despite these low figures, they are higher than those of the wider student population, with only 33% involved in a sports club and only 14% are involved with volunteering opportunities. This suggests that students studying on the QMC campus are more likely to become involved with these opportunities than the wider student population.

Significantly, 41% of QMC students said that they have considered becoming involved with volunteering opportunities but haven’t done so. This suggests that there is a large proportion of students interested in taking part, but that there is something that is stopping them. This is a similar figure for the wider student population, suggesting there is an area of importance here.

Question 24 – To what degree do you feel:
- At home at the University of Nottingham
- A sense of belonging or involvement with the Students’ Union
- That the Students’ Union effectively represents students’ academic interests

A total of 245 students responded to this question. They were asked to rate their answers on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 meaning ‘not at all’ and 10 meaning ‘very much so’. The average responses are shown below:

At home at the university of Nottingham / 7.27
A sense of belonging or involvement with the Students’ Union / 4.71
That the Students’ Union effectively represents academic interests / 5.59

Responses to these statements suggests that students studying on the QMC campus most strongly feel ‘at home at the university of Nottingham’, significantly more so than the further two categories. They report feeling on the lower end of the scale for ‘a sense of belonging or involvement’, an average score of 4 suggesting that they are neutral or negative about this. The final statement received a marginally higher response, however a score of 5 suggests that students are neutral about the Students’ Union’s involvement with ‘academic interests’.

These responses are similar to those of the winder student population, suggesting that there is little to no difference between the feelings of students on the QMC campus to those in the wider student population.

There were frequent themes raised within the comments. These included comments that there should be more involvement of Post-Graduate students, as many do not feel involved or that events are relevant to them. This was also seen from students who study medical subjects, such as nursing and midwifery. Many comments requested that there be more events tailored to students taking these subjects, in content, location and time. Students felt that SU events often did not line up with medical student timetables, and therefore they were unable to attend. This was also relevant to the fact that medical timetables often extend beyond convention term time, and therefore the SU should run events for students with an extended term. Furthermore, frequently comments raised that the SU should bring advertising and events out to the campuses away from University Park, so that they can be better accessed by students studying at campuses such as QMC. This was also relevant to off campus halls, where a lot of medical students live for convenience purposes. Some comments raised that there was a sense of involvement due to groups such as MedSoc and NMA, however they felt that these could be better integrated into the wider SU. The most frequent comment raised was that the SU should tailor email communication towards the students receiving them. They commented that they wanted to hear more from the SU, if the information sent was specific and not as large scale.
Finally, comments highlighted that there was a desire for the SU to be more democratic in making decisions, and to involve more student opinion. It was suggested this could be done through more canvassing and discussion before decisions are made.

Question 25 – How has the Students’ Union impacted on your University experience so far?

245 students responded to this question. Students were asked to rate their response on a scale of -5 to +5, with -5 representing ‘The impact has been extremely negative’, 0 representing ‘There has been no impact’ and +5 representing ‘the impact has been extremely positive’. There were also given the opportunity to respond with ‘I’m not sure’.

As you can see, the majority of students responded with a score of 0 or above. A very small amount of 4.91% of students responded negatively. However, a large 30% of students responded that there had been not impact from the SU on their time at university so far. This was 5% higher than that of the wider student population, showing a difference in those studying at QMC campus. There was also a 1% difference in negative responses, suggesting that a negative impact has been felt by slightly more students studying on the QMC campus.

Comments highlighted that it was involvement in societies that made students feel the most engaged with the SU. Some comments suggested that this was the only involvement they felt, and that they often saw this as detached from the Students’ Union.
Other comments said that students felt confident that they could go to the SU for help and advice, and this made a positive impact. However, it was raised that often, students on the QMC campus are distanced from accessing this help, and as a consequence this has a negative impact.
Comments also raised that students in higher years (such as 4th and 5th year medical students) and international students feel less involved with the SU, and more could be done to provide services that incorporate them.

Question 27 – We noticed that you answered a negative number. Please share with us what has contributed to you feeling this was so that we can improve service for you in the future.

This question was only answered by students who responded with a negative number. There were 8 respondents.

Comments gave multiple reasons why students had responded negatively. These involved that the cost of sports membership was too expensive, and as a consequence stopped students from becoming involved. It was also highlighted that often, due to course demands, medical students do not have the same time as others to become involved. Therefore, events more tailored to the medical timetable would allow more accessibility and impact. It was also mentioned that students who lived in off – campus halls or commuted to University did not feel that they could access the serviced the Students’ Union offers, and therefore they did not feel that it had an impact on them.
Significant individual comments raised that the counselling service had a negative impact, as it was not ‘fit for purpose’. It was also commented that the Students’ Union officers were not approachable.

Question 28 – How has the Students’ Union impacted on your wellbeing so far?

This question was answered by 243 students. Students were asked to rate their response on a scale of -5 to +5, with -5 representing ‘The impact has been extremely negative’, 0 representing ‘there has been no impact’ and +5 representing ‘The impact has been extremely positive’. The responses are charted below:

As you can see, the majority of students (51.44%) responded neutrally, saying that there had been no impact from the SU on their wellbeing. 3.28% of students responded negatively, leaving 45.28% of students responding positively. This is 8% less than the positive response of the wider student population, suggesting that students on the QMC campus do not feel that the SU have impacted as positively on their wellbeing. Instead, the fact that the majority of students responded with 0 suggest that students on the QMC campus do not feel any impact of the SU on their wellbeing.