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
12
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
17
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
19
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.
28
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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