Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
National Student Survey raises funds for charity
Students at Leeds Beckett University have raised nearly £2,000 for charity by completing a survey about their university experience.
Leeds Beckett pledged to donate £1 for every student who completed the 2016 National Student Survey (NSS) to three charities chosen by students - Older Peoples Action in the Locality (OPAL), Shelter and the British Red Cross.
The NSS is an independent survey of final year undergraduate students on their experiences at university. A total of £609 has been donated to OPAL, a Leeds charity offering a range of activities and services to older people that help them live independent and satisfying lives; whilst £606 was also raised for the work of Shelter, a national charity that supports the homeless, and £699 was donated to The Red Cross, an international charity that help people in crisis around the world.
Leeds Beckett has worked with OPAL since 2012, providing volunteers that, amongst other important roles, visit isolated older people in their homes, help them with their supermarket shop and provide them with one-to-one computer support.
Ailsa Rhodes, Project Coordinator at OPAL, explained: “We have a great relationship with Leeds Beckett and for the last few years have successfully recruited student volunteers who have been involved in helping with our activities. Having people of any age supporting a charity for older people makes a big difference to us and really means something, so we are very grateful for all the support Leeds Beckett have given us.
“The money raised through the National Student Survey has contributed to subsidising our members’ transport costs. Many OPAL members would not be able to access our services without transport costs and we are able to provide them with wheelchair accessible minibuses, volunteer drivers and where necessary, taxis.
“In February we look forward to opening part of our Welcome In Community Centre, which will mean that OPAL has secure premises to work from, space to deliver some of our activities as well as providing a facility to the local community who don't currently have community space.”
Professor Phil Cardew, Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic at Leeds Beckett, added: “We are delighted to be able to support these three very worthwhile charities through the NSS survey. For our students it’s important that they complete the survey, as it tells us what they think, what has been great about our teaching and facilities and where we could improve. It’s been fantastic to raise awareness of the three charities and their vital work, whilst providing us with useful feedback that will help us to continue to improve all aspects of our student experience.”
In August the results from the 2016 NSS were published, revealing that 84% of Leeds Beckett students were satisfied overall with the quality of their course.
Ninety percent of students agreed that staff were good at explaining things, and that the library resources and services were good enough for their needs.
Courses given 100% student satisfaction by final year students were:
- BA (Hons) Sport Development
- BA (Hons) Human Geography
- BSc (Hons) Broadcast Media Technologies
- BA (Hons) Journalism
- BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy
- BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Therapy
- BA (Hons) Playwork
The NSS is an independent survey of final year undergraduate students on their experiences at university.