Headline Results

So What? Survey Results: February 2013

Introduction

Methodology

Participation

Headline results

KCLSU results

Student Voice results

Student Experience results

Student Officers results

The Waterfront results

Guy’s Bar results

Tutu’s Nightclub results

Kinetic Fitness Club results

King’s Shop results

Sports Teams results

Activity Groups results

Volunteering Groups results

Advice Service results

Appendix 1: Full results

Introduction

This report contains the results from a satisfaction survey made available to all KCLSU members, namely all King’s College students. We’ll cover headline results overall and then look at each department specifically, considering what the results mean for us in terms of how we work. Full responses to each question can be found in Appendix 1.

Methodology

The survey was hosted on the KCLSU website for just over a month between 15 January 2013 and 17 February 2013. Students were made aware of the survey through direct email campaigns and social media posts. Respondents were incentivised with the chance to win an iPad mini, £50 Amazon vouchers and a meal for two in The Waterfront.

Results were collated using Survey Monkey software then analysed and reported upon by our Marketing and Communications team.

Participation

5.69% response rate (1,385 students).

Respondent demographics largely in line with the College population.
87% are in Years 1, 2 or 3 (37.9%, 26.3% and 23.3% respectively).
Almost all respondents are studying full-time (95.2%).
74% Undergraduates, with remainder being Postgraduates of which almost a fifth are taught.
69% of respondents are UK students, followed by roughly equal numbers of EU and International students (15% and 16% respectively).
Half of respondents are living in private shared accommodation, a further 19% living at home, 8.6% live on their own in private accommodation and the remainder are in halls.
When it comes to campus representation around two fifths are from The Strand (43.2%), a third from Guy’s (32.3%) almost a fifth from Waterloo (18.2%) with the remainder being from Denmark Hill (4.7%) and St Thomas’ (1.5%).
The highest participating schools were Medicine (21.5%), Arts and Humanities (20.1%), Social Sciences and Public Policy (17.3%) and Biomedical and Health Sciences (13.3%).

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 1 to 8.

Headline results

Our students are satisfied with us as a Students’ Union and say we are doing a great job (70.8% of respondents).
We’re considered to be student-led (49%), friendly (37.7%), enthusiastic (35%), communicative (23.9%) and positive (22.5%).
Services that had the most appeal were linked to personal development, namely employment skills and opportunities, activity groups and volunteering. Each service area had around half of respondents state that they were ‘very interested’.
Services with the least appeal were Kinetic Fitness Club, Tutu’s Nightclub and King’s Retail, with around a fifth stating they were ‘not at all interested’.
The majority of respondents do not know how to influence decision making at KCLSU (64.4%) but many do feel their voice is heard (57.5%).
Our Student Officers are considered to be overwhelmingly effective amongst those respondents that are aware of them with 87% saying they were ‘effective’, ‘quite effective’ or ‘extremely effective’.
But there is a lack of awareness in relation to Student Officers with around a third saying they do not know who they are or what they do (34.7%). A further 15.7% were unable to recall an achievement made by a Student Officer.
Our venues all have strong recommendation scores amongst those respondents that had made visits (Waterfront 90.9%, Guy’s Bar 80.7%, Tutu’s 76.9%). Although there is room for improvement in terms of service provision and delivery.
Our sports teams, activity groups and volunteering groups who have had an interaction with us feel well supported (Sports Teams 83.8%, Activity Groups 88.2%, Volunteering Groups 90.2%).
Although not used by many respondents, our Advice Service has very high recommendation score of 93.7%. With knowledgeable/helpful staff being the main reason for recommendation (76.4%).

KCLSU results

55.9% of respondents were aware that they are KCLSU members, 30.0% were unsure and the remaining 14.1% proactively said they were not members.
The words respondents most associate with KCLSU are: student-led (49.0%), friendly (37.7%), enthusiastic (35.0%), communicative (23.9%) and positive (22.5%).
The words they associate with us least are: perceptive (1.9%), impetuous (2.2%), rational (2.5%), understanding (2.6%) and visionary (2.8%).
53% of respondents are aware that our commercial operations use their profits to fund other KCLSU services, with the remaining 47% being unaware.
Services with the most appeal (very interested): employment opportunities (57.7%), employment skills (50.7%), activity groups (49.2%) and external volunteering opportunities (41.4%).
Services with the least appeal (not at all interested): Tutu’s Nightclub (26%), Kinetic Fitness Club (23.1%) and King’s Retail (19.6%).
Respondents agree that KCLSU is: a key part of the King’s community (89.7%), contributing positively to their King’s experience (87.8%) and holding the College to account on student matters (86.3%).
Respondents were less collective in their view about whether or not their university life would be affected if KCLSU closed tomorrow, with 46.1% disagreeing and 53.8% agreeing.
70.8% of respondents say they are satisfied with us as a Students’ Union. Main reasons for dissatisfaction were: not knowing what we do (14.4%), a perception that we weren’t representing them (7.6%) and not being visible enough (4.1%).

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 9 to 13 and 66 to 67.

Student Voice results

63.1% of respondents want to hear more about the work we do to improve student experience.
64.4% of respondents do not know how to influence our decision making.
57.5% feel that their voice is listened to.

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 14 and 15.

Student Experience results

When asked the one thing that they would want changed about university life the common themes were: make student life more affordable (cheaper food/drink, access to financial support, reduced course fees and free printing/photocopying), increase the sense of community (more social/study spaces, integration between campuses, events) and a more professional approach from KCLSU and College staff (efficient administration, empathy with student issues, better teaching, improved communication).
The top three facilities respondents want to see on their home campus are: food outlets (26.8%), gym space (26.4%) and activity space (22.3%).
The most important issues respondents want to see addressed in relation to the College (selected from a list generated from Rant Week 2012) are: abolish unclear assessment criteria (80.6%), improve quality of academic feedback (85.7%) and review exam timetabling (72.6%).

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 16 to 17 and 20 to 21.

Student Officers results

Student Officers received an 87% effectiveness score amongst those respondents who were aware of them (effective 33.2%, quite effective 32.2%, extremely effective 21.6%).
When known to respondents there is a sense of Student Officer achievement with almost a fifth of respondents saying that the team had made positive things happen (18.5%).
But around a third of respondents didn’t know who the Student Officers are (34.7%) and a further 15.7% were unable to recall an achievement that they had made.

For full results see Appendix 1, question 20.

The Waterfront results

78.7% of respondents have visited The Waterfront Bar.
Most visits are infrequent with two fifths only visiting once a term (39.9%), almost a quarter visiting once a month (24.3%) , 17.7% once a fortnight, 15.8% 1-2 days a week, 2.1% visiting 3-4 times a week and 0.2% visiting daily.
The main reason for not visiting is because it is not near a respondent’s home campus or is considered too far away (34%). Other reasons for not visiting include not drinking alcohol or wanting to be around alcohol, being too busy, preferring alternatives , having no reason to go and not being able to afford it.
14% of respondents had not heard of the venue.
90.9% of respondents said they would consider recommending The Waterfront Bar to a friend (likely to recommend 14.2%, quite likely to recommend 31.4%, extremely likely to recommend 45.3%).
The main reasons for recommendation are: the view, great atmosphere, reasonable prices and past enjoyable experiences.

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 22 to 26.

Guy’s Bar results

53.4% of respondents have visited Guy’s Bar.
Most visits are infrequent with almost half visiting just once a term (49.3%), 18.3% visiting once a month, 14.5% once a fortnight, 13.4% 1-2 days a week, 3.4% 3-4 days a week and 1.2% visiting everyday.
The main reason for not visiting is because it is not near a respondent’s home campus or is considered too far away (63.7%). Other reasons for not visiting include not drinking alcohol or wanting to be around alcohol, being too busy, preferring alternatives , having no reason to go, not being able to afford it and a perception amongst a few that the bar is just for medics and sports teams.
8.1% of respondents had not heard of the venue.
80.7% of respondents said they would consider recommending Guy’s Bar to a friend (likely to recommend 21.5%, quite likely to recommend 27%, extremely likely to recommend 32.2%).
The main reasons for recommendation come from the experience with friends rather than the venue itself, in contrast to what we hear about The Waterfront.
The main reason for not recommending the bar is because it is considered ‘dark and dingy’ (17.5%).

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 27 to 31.

Tutu’s Nightclub results

56.3% of respondents have visited Tutu’s.
Most visits are infrequent with just over a third only visiting once an academic year (36.4%), and a further quarter each visiting less than once a term (26.3%) or 1-2 times a term (25.3%).
The main reason for not visiting is a general disinterest with a quarter not going to nightclubs (25.4%), 18.5% have no reason to go, 15.1% prefer alternatives and 7.6% are too busy.
3.1% of respondents had not heard of the venue.
76.9% of respondents said they would consider recommending Tutu’s to a friend (likely to recommend 26.3%, quite likely to recommend 30.7%, extremely likely to recommend 19.9%).
The main reason for recommendation is the theme nights (21.3%).
Outside of the theme nights the venue lacks appeal with the main reason for not recommending the venue being the poor atmosphere/emptiness (17.6%).

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 32 to 36.

Kinetic Fitness Club results

92.6% of respondents are not members of Kinetic.
The main reasons for not joining are: it’s too expensive (24.3%), they are a member of a different gym (22.9%) and that it is considered poorly located/too far away (13.1%).
89.9% of respondents who had visited Kinetic said they would consider recommending the gym to a friend (likely to recommend 10.1%, quite likely to recommend 27.9%, extremely likely to recommend 51.9%).
The main reasons for recommendation are reasonable prices (32.3%) and enjoying their time there (24.6%).
The main reason for not recommending the gym is due to poor facilities (35.3%).

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 55 to 58.

King’s Shop results

65.5% of respondents have not visited King’s Shop.
The main reasons for not visiting are: having no interest or reason to go (24.6%), the merchandise being too expensive (22.7%) and the shop not stocking anything they like/want (13.3%).
90.3% of respondents who had visited the shop said they would consider recommending it to a friend (likely to recommend 15.9%, quite likely to recommend 30.3%, extremely likely to recommend 44.1%).
The main reasons for recommendation being the quality of the merchandise (29.8%) and the fact that it is the only place to get King’s branded goods (22.6%).
The main reasons for not recommending the shop are that the stock is too expensive (21.5%) and poor in range (15%).

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 59 to 62.

Sports Teams results

26.2% of respondents are part of a King’s/KCLMS/GKT sports team.
The main reasons for not joining a team are not being a sporty person (34.1%) or being too busy (24.1%).
Other reasons for not being part of a team are preferring individual sports (6.6%), being part of a team elsewhere (6.0%) or the teams not being an option as they were beginners/wanted to play for fun (6.1%).
83.8% of those respondents who are part of a sports team are happy with the support they get from KCLSU (happy 22.3%, quite happy 34.6%, extremely happy 26.9%).
The main reasons for not being happy were due to a lack of funding (32.8%), generally feeling unsupported (18.4%) and poor administration (11.6%).
71.8% of respondents recognise the transferable skills they are gaining on their CV from being part of a sports team. Respondents felt they were gaining skills in multiple areas with the most common being teamwork, communication, motivation, organisation and leadership.

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 37 to 42.

Activity Groups results

48.6% of respondents are part of an activity group.
The main reason for not taking part in an activity group is a lack of time (48.6%).
13.6% of respondents had not heard about any opportunities to take part in an activity group.
88.2% of those respondents who are part of an activity group are happy with the support they get from KCLSU (happy 22.4%, quite happy 32.1%, extremely happy 33.7%).
The main reasons for not being happy are due to a lack of support (14.1%), lack of funding (13.7%) and poor administration (13.3%).
70.0% of respondents recognise the transferable skills they are gaining on their CV from being part of an activity group.
Respondents felt they were gaining skills in multiple areas with the most common being communication, teamwork, organisation, leadership, motivation and event management.

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 43 to 48.

Volunteering Groups results

81.8% of respondents have not taken part in a volunteering group.
The main reason for not taking part in a volunteering group is a lack of time (48.4%).
16.0% of respondents had not heard about any opportunities to take part in a volunteering group.
90.2% of those respondents who are part of a volunteering group are happy with the support they get from KCLSU (happy 26.6%, quite happy 28.1%, extremely happy 35.5%).
The main reason for not being happy was due to a lack of support (27.7%).
88.9% of respondents recognise the transferable skills they are gaining on their CV from being part of an activity group.
Respondents felt they were gaining skills in multiple areas with the most common being communication, teamwork, organisation, motivation and leadership.

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 49 to 54.

Advice Service results

83.8% of respondents have not used the advice service.
93.7% of those respondents who have used the service are happy with the support they get from KCLSU (happy 6.7%, quite happy 28.8%, extremely happy 58.2%).
The main reason for recommendation is knowledgeable/helpful staff (76.4%).

For full results see Appendix 1, questions 63 to 65.

Appendix 1: Full results

Results are sorted in descending order by % response rate.

Q1. Year of study

Answer / % of respondents / Number of respondents
Year 1 / 37.9 / 525
Year 3 / 26.3 / 237
Year 2 / 23.3 / 323
Year 4 / 7.7 / 107
Year 5 / 4.6 / 64
5+ / 2.8 / 39