Otago performs well in survey of international students

Otago performs well in global survey of international students

Otago has achieved impressive showing amongst New Zealand universities in the latest International Student Barometer (ISB), a biennial global benchmark for international student experience the results of which were released last week.

Respondents who studied at the University of Otago reported the highest overall satisfaction and recommendation scores amongst the six participating NZ universities, with 93 per cent of students satisfied overall with their Otago experience and 88 per cent would recommend the University to others.

Otago has taken part in this global benchmark performed by i-graduate since 2007, which in 2017 saw 145,354 international students responding from 185 institutions in 19 countries.

The ISB tracks and compares the decision-making, expectations, perceptions and intentions of international students from application to graduation.

Not only did respondents studying at Otago report the highest level of satisfaction of the six New Zealand universities (and just over three per cent more than the national average), in addition student support at Otago was ranked number one nationally, achieving five per cent greater satisfaction than the international national average.

Otago also performed well against the national benchmark on a number of other elements, including:

· Accommodation cost (+9% greater than the national average)
· Host friends (Arrival) (+8%)
· Sports facilities (+8%)
· Catering (+7%)
· Residential College Support (+7%)
· Host friends (Living), Social facilities, Accommodation access, Accommodation office, Visa advice, Campus buildings, Fees office (Support) (all +6%)
· Living costs, IT Services, First night, Good contacts, Social activities (Living) (all +5%)

Otago’s International Director Mr Jason Cushen says that the latest performance in the benchmarking exercise is very pleasing.

“As the oldest and only truly residential university in New Zealand, each year Otago welcomes international students from more than 90 different countries around the world.

“Our showing in the 2017 ISB reflects how committed as an institution we are to making sure that all students gain the most from their time with us, and that we offer a high level of support to them.”

Mr Cushen commented that a stand-out result was Otago ranked fourth in the world for Residential College Support of the 185 institutions taking part.

“Another outstanding result is that our ‘Online Library’ is ranked fifth in the world and our student association seventh,” he says.

Mr Cushen noted that the satisfaction with Otago indicated by the ISB findings is in keeping with the University’s own recent measures in this area.

“In our own 2016 Student Opinion and Graduate Opinion surveys, 94 per cent of international students expressed satisfaction with the overall quality of the course we provided, as did 99 per cent of the international graduates.”

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