As part of the accreditation process and annual reporting, THE-ICE conducts an annual benchmarking survey on international students studying at accredited member institutions. These reports are conducted by the International Graduate Insight Group (i-graduate) which is an independent benchmarking and consultancy service (based in the UK), who deliver comparative insights for the education sector worldwide. They specialise in the delivery of world-class insight tools and studies for stakeholders in education and have developed partnerships with institutions, governments and educationrelated organisations.
The International Student Barometer (ISB) is:
* An independent and confidential feedback process for education providers, tracking the decision-making, perceptions, expectations and experiences of international students
* A risk management tool, identifying the key drivers of international student satisfaction and establishing the relative importance of each.
* A comparative measure, tracking year on year how expectations and perceptions change - within your institution and against national and global benchmarks.
The ISB has been adopted by over 400 institutions in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Germany, Estonia, Denmark and the USA. It is now the largest study of international students in the world with feedback from over 400,000students since 2005. A dedicated ISB benchmarking report and index has been developed for accredited members of THE-ICE.
The Barometer provides an objective, independent and confidential feedback loop to:
* Enhance your competitive advantage
* Inform departmental and institutional decision-making
* Adapt student recruitment and marketing to manage expectations
Specific outcomes include:
* Understand and compare students' expectations and experiences
* Identify key differentiators for marketing - where does your institution outperform the sector?
* Identify priority areas for investment and support
* Deliver key performance indicators for academic departments and support services
* Educate staff - provide enlightened insights into the motivations, attitudes and perceptions of this year's cohort
* Measure the success of your institution relative to rivals, win support for change and set realistic goals and objectives for improvement
* Track progress year on year
What is covered in the study?
Key areas covered by the International Student Barometer include:
* Decision making process
* Enquiry to acceptance
* Arrival and orientation
* The learning experience
* The living experience
* Support services
* Worth the investment of money?
* Worth the investment of time?
* Recommendation
* Learning style preferences
* Career aspirations and preferences
* Personal values
* Study pressures
THE-ICE has worked with i-Graduate since 2007 to develop a specialised comparative THE-ICE Index for institutional member of THE-ICE. Furthermore, i-Graduate has also developed a composite Global TH&E Index so that members of THE-ICE can compare their performance against a student feedback from a wider range of institutions around the globe.
For more information on the ISB and their other education services, contact the International Graduate Insight Group (i-graduate).
Benchmarking and THE-ICE – a presentation that overviews the benchmarking activities of THE-ICE undertaken with i-Graduate Research
 |
