Students give their seal of approval

Staff in Scotland's colleges and universities may feel increasingly beleaguered by work pressures and dwindling funds but for their students things are getting better, writes Olga Wojtas.

A student experience survey, carried out for the Scottish further and higher education funding councils, shows 94 per cent of students are happy with the quality of their learning and their institutions. This is a 5 per cent rise since the last survey in 2001.

Two thousand students in further and higher education were interviewed by NFO Social Research. Just 2 per cent in colleges and 1 per cent in universities are unhappy with their institution.

There has been a drop, from 80 per cent to 77 per cent, in the proportion of university students who are happy with the size of group in which they are taught, and only two-thirds in both sectors are satisfied with the quality of equipment in labs or workshops.

Forty-nine per cent of university students feel they have received appropriate careers advice, a drop from 53 per cent in 2001, although 64 per cent of further education students are happy with the advice they get, a rise from 56 per cent.

There is a rise from 62 per cent to 73 per cent for those satisfied with the support offered on financial and other personal issues.