Over 90% of new students satisfied with their UCL welcome experience

About 'New to UCL'

The ‘New to UCL’ survey lets students share their views on the UCL welcome experience, as well as their reasons for choosing to study here. This year’s results suggest students’ introduction to the university leaves a positive impression in their first term.  

The survey runs each year from October to December and all new students (undergraduate, postgraduate and research) are invited to take part.  

New to UCL was designed by the Office of the Vice-Provost Education after extensive consultation across the university in 2016, replacing the Student Barometer survey.  

This academic year's New to UCL survey closed on 8 December 2019. Over 6,600 students took part in the survey, which resulted in a 32% overall response rate - down 2% against 2018. Of the survey responses:   

• 31% were from undergraduates; 
• 31% were from postgraduate taught students; and 
• 43% were from postgraduate research students.  

Headlines from the 2019 survey

The results from the survey were largely encouraging, with 93% of respondents agreeing that they were satisfied with the arrival at UCL. This is down one percentage point from last year, returning to the level seen in 2017-18, but still reflects an impressive welcome experience.  

We saw a notable rise (+7 percentage points) in students having met their Transition Mentor, and a greater number of students (+2ppts) met, or arranged to meet their Personal Tutor on arrival.  

Results show that new students are becoming more aware of the supports available to them. Awareness of services such as disability support services (+4ppts) and administrative support from the Student Centre (+8ppts) showed an impressive jump this year.  

Alongside the usual breakdown of answers by students’ level of study, this year’s full survey results include new, more detailed student demographic information, e.g. gender. 

Download the headline results from New to UCL 2019 (UCL log in required).