Feedback
As part of its aim to aid improvements to the student experience at King’s, the Graduate School participates in the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), the NSS equivalent for research degree students, as a means of gaining valuable student feedback.
PRES
PRES is a national online survey run biennially by the Higher Education Academy in conjunction with individual HE institutions. The survey is designed to provide participating institutions with feedback on:
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What their postgraduate research students consider are important factors in determining their satisfaction with their educational experience
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Their actual levels of satisfaction
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Benchmarking against comparable institutions
In response to the comments and feedback provided by students, the Graduate School has taken forward a number of initiatives to help improve the student experience at King’s.
You said
In the 2008 survey, 84% of our research students said that the overall experience of studying for a PhD at King’s had either met or exceeded their expectations
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Satisfaction scores were better than comparable universities for timely examination of the thesis, fairness of the examination process, preparation for the oral exam and understanding of how the progress monitoring system operates
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Students were generally satisfied with supervision, the opportunities given to develop research skills and the research environment
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Students were less satisfied with workspace, technical support, financial support and opportunities to teach
We did
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The College is in the process of agreeing per capita workspace for each research student and a survey to assess School provision is being undertaken
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The Graduate School has already agreed with ISS that postgraduate-only quiet workspace will be provided within the College’s ISC/Libraries. Graduate Zones have now been opened in New Hunts House, Guy's and Franklin-Wilkins Building, Waterloo
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A recommendation within the King’s Graduate Project is for the College to introduce a programme of Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs) to provide research students funding to carry out undergraduate teaching. These are being launched by some Schools in 2011
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The Graduate School has launched a programme of over 100 new scholarships and part-scholarships and has introduced an online Postgraduate Funding database
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The Graduate School launched a Conference Fund to which research students can apply if they have been accepted to give a paper or poster at a research conference
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The Graduate School is increasing the opportunities for supervisor and student training and development
Headline findings from 2011 Postgraduate Researcher Experience Surveys (PRES)
King’s participated in the 2011 PRES and is in the process of analysing the responses in order to develop an action plan in relation to key findings.
Our overall response rate in 2011 was 36.8%, an increase from the previous survey in 2008 which was 28%.
The headline findings are very positive, with 87.6% of our students saying that their experience at King’s had met or exceeded their expectations, and nearly all indicators had improved between 2008 and 2011. There was an increase in satisfaction with all aspects of supervision, skills and development, intellectual climate, information on goals and standards and professional development and careers advice. Areas where further action is required from the College include library facilities, computing resources and facilities, opportunities to teach, access to technical support, workspace and financial support for research activities. For further details please click here.
You Said
In the 2011 survey, 87.6% of our research students said that the overall experience of studying for a PhD at King’s had either met or exceeded their expectations.
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You said you found it difficult at times to get hold of books in our libraries
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You said you wanted easier access to materials that we don’t hold in King’s libraries
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You said you wanted more dedicated postgraduate space to work in the libraries
We Did
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The Library is to invest a further £700k on library materials in 2011-12 and intends to invest similar sums over the next couple of years. We now spend over £5.5m on library materials per annum.
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The Library has removed the charge we previously applied to inter library loans (that is the books and articles we get from the British Library and other academic libraries). Getting material to your “home” library from one of our other campus libraries continues to be free. King’s students have full access to Senate House Library and a number of other academic and specialist libraries in London and South East England.
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We have doubled the size of the postgraduate study room in the refurbished Franklin Wilkins Library and created a silent study room (where the use of noisy keyboards is also not allowed). We will be creating further dedicated postgraduate research space in the libraries, especially the Maughan Library.
Further feedback
Any suggestions to help us improve facilities or the experience for a research student are welcome; please email the Graduate School with your comments.