Report

Digital experience insights survey 2019: findings from students in UK further and higher education

A detailed picture of how students experience technology as part of their learning in colleges and universities across the UK.

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The digital experience insights student survey 2019 shares information from students at 50 UK institutions - including 13,389 students in further education (FE), 14,525 based on-campus in higher education (HE), and 1,617 online HE learners. Participants describe their attitude towards technologies and their digital learning experiences.

Key findings include:

  • Only 40% in FE and 42% in HE feel their course prepares them for the digital workplace
  • Less than half of the FE students surveyed (49%) and only 70% of campus-based HE respondents agree that digital skills are needed in their chosen career
  • Overall, satisfaction levels are high, with 70% of FE students and 75% of those studying on-campus in HE rating the quality of digital teaching and learning on their course as ‘good’, ‘excellent’ or ‘best imaginable'
  • Around seven in ten students in HE and six in ten in FE agree that, when digital is used, they understand things better and enjoy learning more
  • Just 53% of FE students and 70% of HE students agree that their institution supports them to use their own digital devices

Digital experience insights service

Find out more about our digital experience insights service, which allows organisations to gather and benchmark findings, target resources for improvement and enhance student engagement.

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About the authors

Tabetha Newman
Dr Tabetha Newman
Senior research consultant and CEO, Timmus Limited
Helen Beetham
Helen Beetham
Researcher at University of Wolverhampton
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Mark Langer-Crame
Senior data intelligence analyst (team lead), Jisc
Clare Killen
Clare Killen
Senior consultant

I work in the business intelligence unit at Jisc, primarily on the digital experience insights surveys for students, academic staff and professional services staff. The focus is on supporting members across further and higher education to enrich their student experiences by providing powerful data to inform strategic planning and investment.

Sarah Knight
Sarah Knight
Head of learning and teaching transformation

I am head of learning and teaching transformation in higher education and research. My team and I support universities with their digital transformation agenda. This includes the supporting the use of the framework for digital transformation in higher education and the development of a maturity model for digital transformation. Other activities in my portfolio include projects exploring future trends for assessment and feedback, researching international students' digital experiences and supporting staff with designing learning for beyond blended.