Student Experience & Academic Standards

Welcome to Cardiff

What does the ‘Welcome to Cardiff’ survey ask?
The ‘Welcome to Cardiff” survey is conducted on an annual basis as a means of collecting, analysing and reporting student feedback at Cardiff University.

‘Welcome to Cardiff’ asks students to provide feedback to a series of questions and statements about the student experience of applying to, and arriving at, Cardiff University.  
Topic areas include:

• Applying to University
• Influences in choosing Cardiff University
• Information sources used when selecting and comparing universities
• Process of admission to the University
• Arrival and early experiences at Cardiff, including enrolment procedures
• Financial commitments of new students

The survey is made available to all new first years.  Separate versions of the questionnaire are made available to undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research students.

When and how do students take part?
New first year students (undergraduate and postgraduate) are invited, via email, to complete the online “Welcome to Cardiff” survey between October-December in each academic year.  The response rate to the survey is encouraging:  in 2010, over 2400 students completed the questionnaire and, over six years, over ten thousand students have contributed to ‘Welcome to Cardiff’.

How is feedback from the survey reported and used?
Since the inception of the project in 2005, reports have been produced on a regular basis and the data collected has helped to inform a number of processes and initiatives within the University, including a review of the online enrolment system and the development of a strategy to improve communication with students.  Data from the project has also provided evidence to inform the student body in preparation for external reviews and visitations to the University (such as the 2008 Institutional Review).

Each academic school receives a report of the responses to each question from students within their School, together with the overall results within the University for comparison purposes.  Schools also receive sets of freetext comments to individual questions.

An annual report is also produced which gives a summary of the main themes and headline statements emerging from the undergraduate, PGT and PGR surveys.  Information is also shared with staff within directorates in order that student feedback relating to a number of administrative processes and procedures is made available and can assist in the planning process for future years.