THE SEPTEMBER 2013 OPEN

DAY FEEDBACK REPORT

Department of Marketing & Communications

18/10/2013

Survey overview

Purpose: To receive feedback on the Open Day from the visitors

Survey method: Online questionnaire

Target: All visitors who attended the Open Day on 14th September

Date: 16th Sep – 31th October

Number of samples collected:666 (as of 15th October)

Where available, the results were compared with the June 2013

Open Day.

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DID THEY LIKE BATH?

Total of 94% of respondents rated the Open Day was either “excellent” or “good”; the

percentage of respondents who chose “excellent” increased by 8% from the June Open

Day.

Overall evaluation

85% of potential UG applicants are now “more likely to apply” showing a 7% increase

from the June Open Day.

Likeliness to apply

78% of respondents liked “atmosphere”, followed by “course content” (76%), “city of

Bath”(71%), “placement year opportunities”(69%), and “reputation/league tables”(66%).

What they liked about Bath

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I really enjoyed the open day. It was friendly, welcoming,

informative, interesting, detailed and made me very keen to apply to

Bath, which I shall be doing in the next couple of months. I look

forward to hearing more from the university, and sincerely hope that

I will be considered for an interview/place soon!

All the staff very extremely helpful and friendly. My son was very

impressed.

Overall impression

7

Horrendous traffic jams to and from. However, not a jot Bath can do

about it. We were warned. We absolutely loved our Bath

experience. If it were solely my choice I wouldn't bother going and

looking at any other Uni. My eldest son starts next week....he can't

wait. An open day is a huge undertaking. Bath you did yourself

proud. Excellent in every way.

FACILITIES & STUDENT

AMBASSADORS

Most respondents were either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the facilities; the

percentage of “very satisfied” respondents increased in most of the facilities.

Satisfaction with facilities

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Almost all the respondents found student ambassadors “helpful”.

Helpfulness of Student Ambassadors

10

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Alumni

32% of respondents heard talks by the University alumni; 87% found they were either

“very useful” or “useful”, showing a slight decrease from June.

Facilities

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I found all facilities were very good, well located and I like how easy

it is to get around. I also like that the campus is not too large and the

facilities and services make the university feel communal.

Complimentary tea coffee and biscuits with students based there

was a really nice touch it made it a informal way to stop and chat

with the students and made you feel very welcome on the day.

Absolutely need more instruction and sign to get to park and ride -

we got lost and we had a satnav

I think the signage around campus could have been clearer. For

instance, we struggled to find the information fair, as the signs were

not detailed enough.

Signage

13

Fantastic signs and very well organised

Student Ambassadors

14

I really liked the fact that there were student ambassadors all over

the campus. It was hard to go very far without seeing one of them -

helpful if you're a bit unsure of where to go!

I would say that there should be more direction signs around the

campus, but there were student ambassadors everywhere, so there

was always someone to ask!

The canteen was of a high standard, with good food and efficient

service.

The food and drink available was exceptional, really pleased with it

Catering

15

Much better catering options than 2 years ago. Toilet signage very

helpful. People very friendly

I think having a free shuttle would've been better. Having to pay for

the train tickets there already, then told to pay for bus fares as well

was a shock...

The parking attendants were kind

It was very helpful and helped give me a feel for what it would be

like to live and study there. However a cheaper bus service to and

from the station would be nice.

Parking, Local bus, Park & Ride

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Disability access

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I came to the open day recovering from knee surgery, with restricted

mobility. I can not stress how good it was to be offered so much

help from staff and students - doors opened, offers of chairs,

directions to lifts. The staff and students could not have been any

more helpful to me.

Even though my son declared his Asperger's on the form and said

he wouldn't need any assistance or requirements, we really

appreciated the e mail letting him know where he could go should

he need anything further. Thank you!

EVENTS

Most of the events had a slightly lower attendance rate compared to the June Open

Day.

Event attendance

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All the events were regarded as either “very useful” or “useful”.

Usefulness of events

20

The student union talk was the best talk I've been to at any

university on that topic. The President and Activities officer got

everyone involved and covered all basis. It started the appeal to me

of Bath as a university.

I would have liked more accommodation available to view. I'm

looking for catered accommodation so how could I make an

informed decision between Polden and Brendon Court if only one

was open?

Events

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Departmental Talks

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Overall, there was more positive feedback on departmental talks.

INFORMATION FAIR

• 75% of the respondents attended the Information Fair, which was a 9% decrease

from June.

• More than 90% of respondents who attended rated the quality of exhibition and

display materials positively.

• 89% thought the quality of the verbal information by staff either “excellent” or “good”.

Quality of Information Fair

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Absolutely delighted with Information Fair. All staffs were extremely

friendly and ready to have a conversation with me.

All our questions were satisfactorily answered. In particular the lady

we spoke to in regard to placements was extremely helpful.

There weren't enough people to talk to at each stand so I had to

wait several minutes before I was able to talk to someone

Information Fair

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I found it useful that their was current students able to give helpful

information and advice about the subjects i am interested in.

96% of respondents who attended the Information Fair picked up brochures. 78% of

them thought it provided the information they were looking for.

Brochure

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WEBSITE AND BOOKING

Helpfulness of pre-arrival information

More respondents thought the pre-arrival information was helpful.

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Website

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Very clear and easy to use

The campus map was available but not easy to find, and when I did

find it, it was without a key.

With the map on the Bath website, I did not notice a key, although

this may have just been me being oblivious, but the map was just

labelled with letters, and it did not say what the letters meant, it did,

however, say what these letters meant on the map handed out on

the premises.

Booking system

98% of respondents used the online booking system. Of those who used it, 70% were

able to book tickets for talks they wanted to attend.

Of those who did not have tickets, 70% still attended their chosen talk.

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Mobile website

• 40% of respondents visited the pre-arrival information website using mobile devices.

Of these, 97% were able to find the information they were looking for.

• Almost all users found the information easily.

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TRANSPORTATION

Travelling

77% of respondents travelled by car.

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Travelling

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There was a lot of traffic when leaving the university (via car) and

as a result it took nearly and hour and a half to leave Bath if there

was someway to reduce this (have more open days with less

people attending for example) that would be good.

The only down side was the traffic! It took us 5 hrs to get back to

the midlands! I understand it was a very busy weekend in and

around the city and hopefully wouldn't be like that every weekend.

Traffic

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Summary of free comments

DISCUSSION

We were successful in providing a good Open Day experience to the visitors; we

received more positive feedback than the June Open Day:

• 94% of visitors evaluated their experience positively. There were more

visitors (64%) who thought it was “excellent”.

• 85% of potential applicants became “more likely to apply”.

• More visitors liked our friendly atmosphere.

• More visitors were satisfied with out facilities.

• More visitors were satisfied with departmental talks.

• There were fewer comments on heavy traffic.

There were not any major issues found in the feedback. Based on free comments

received, the following actions are recommended:

• Consider offering a free or cheaper shuttle bus from the train station. Some

other universities seem to provide this service.

• Review the number of signage placed on- and off-campus, and make the

signage clearer and more informative. Some visitors had difficulties finding

rooms where talks took place. In addition, a few signs to help visitors

queuing before the talks could be provided.

• Consider live streaming departmental talks in other rooms. This could reduce

confusion around queuing. The videos could be used to built a “virtual open

day”.

• On the pre-arrival information website, make the link to the campus map and

the Open Day programme more prominent. Some visitors failed to locate

these information.

Discussion

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