Thursday 07-11-2019 - 10:00

Since 2017 Bristol SU has taken part in the national Student Life Pulse survey, a survey we run in conjunction with the market research company Alterline. 

Over the course of the last academic year, we got in contact with every student at the university to ask them about their experiences studying at the University of Bristol and interacting with the SU.

2024 students responded to our survey, representing 8% of the student body. 

Here are 8 things we found out from the survey…

1)    Lots of you think of the SU as helpful, friendly and active. However, we are also seen as being too far away and distant from campus.

We asked you to think of three words to describe the SU. Below are the 50 most frequent words from this question.

2)    You think that the SU offers a good range of clubs, societies, activities and events.

79% of respondents agreed that the SU offers a wide range of clubs and societies to get involved in, and 72% of respondents agreed that the SU provides a wide range of activities and events to get involved in. 

Almost two thirds of respondents (64%) agreed that the SU is welcoming and inclusive to all types of students, with only 11% disagreeing. However, only 31% of students would think about going to the SU to meet friends, with 47% of students disagreeing. 

3)    Over half of you know who your course rep is, but less of you know about your full-time officer team.

54% of respondents knew who their course rep was and 56% knew how to contact them. However, only 29% of students knew who their full-time officer team was and just 28% knew how to contact them.

4)    Students are most concerned about academic achievement and workload.

When we asked students how concerned they had been about a series of issues over the previous two weeks, students were most concerned about academic achievement (69%), academic workload (67%), balancing academic and social time (55%) and paying for the things they needed (51%). Meanwhile, almost half were concerned about their career prospects (48%) and mental health (48%).

5)    Out of all our services, students were most likely to have used the Balloon Bar.

65% of respondents had used the Balloon Bar, with 64% using our website to buy tickets and 56% using societies. 41% of respondents had used sports clubs, 28% had used the living room, 25% had used Bristol SU Lettings, 21% had used The Basket and 7% had used Just Ask. 

6)    Our most highly rated services were the Bristol SU Living Room, sports clubs and societies.

81% of students who had used the Bristol SU Living Room were satisfied with the service, followed by 80% of those who had used sports clubs and 79% of those who had used societies. Meanwhile, 71% of students were satisfied with the Balloon Bar and Just Ask, 68% were satisfied with The Basket and 64% were satisfied with Bristol SU Lettings.  

7)    The biggest barrier to engaging in sport and exercise was not having enough time.

51% of students who told us they wanted to engage more in sports club activities said that they didn’t have enough time to engage, while 52% of students who wanted to engage more in participation sport activities such as the gym or intramural felt the same. 

8)     67% of you wanted us to prioritise student wellbeing and welfare over the next five years.

When given a list of different activities that the SU could prioritise over the next 5 years, 67% of respondents chose supporting student wellbeing and welfare as one of their priorities. The next most popular activity was providing social opportunities and events, with 36% of students choosing this option. 

And here’s what we’re doing with what we’ve found out…

1)    We’re going to keep being friendly and helpful, and we are planning to to open two new spaces in Senate House, including a new SU bar, to bring us closer to you.

2)    We’re working to make the SU a space you want to meet your friends, with lots more events in the building.

3)    We’re giving our new full-time officer team lots more airtime on our social media, so you know more about what they’re doing.

4)    We are working with the University of Bristol to make sure they deliver on their Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy.

5)    Our Education Officers and Faculty Reps are working to ensure that workloads in each faculty are manageable for students.

6)    We are working with our networks to make sure the views of different student groups are represented to the university.

7)    We’re working to get even more of you using the Balloon Bar, with a snazzy new menu including £6.50 pizza!

8)    We’ve opened four new Living Rooms in Halls of Residence, so even more of you can enjoy a slice of home whilst at university.

9)    We’re expanding our intramural programme this year so even more of you can enjoy casual sport – we’ve already signed up double the number of students of last year!

10)    We’re creating a Wellbeing Strategy for the SU so we can do more in the important area of student wellbeing and welfare.
 

What can you do?

Look out for the email for this year's survey!

Help Shape the Future of SU and university projects by signing up at bristolsu.org.uk/shapingthefuture