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The New to UCL survey is for all new students, both undergraduate and postgraduate.
Open to all new students, this short survey assesses what factors influenced a student’s decision to study at UCL, as well as seeking feedback on the arrival and induction experience.
The New to UCL survey is for new students at every level of study. Students on foundation courses and those studying via affiliates are also eligible to take part in the survey.
New to UCL results are vital in helping us understand what works well for new students, and what can be improved.
New to UCL 2023
The New to UCL 2023 survey is open between 6th November - 17th December.
Eligible students will be invited to complete the survey via email. Students can also complete the survey (via single sign-on) on the survey website. Students will be asked to sign in using their name university email address.
The Headline results can be viewed here. Department-level results and free text comments will be provided to departments at the end of February.
Key documents for staff
Templates and guides to help promote the survey
Staff in faculties, departments and professional services are influential in persuading students to take part in surveys.
A range of materials are available on the Templates and Guides page to help you promote New to UCL locally, including:
- Email signature image
- New to UCL web banner image
- New to UCL Instagram story image
- Email template
Previous New to UCL results
Headline results from New to UCL 2022 have been shared with faculties, departments and programmes. Programme and departmental-level results can be reviewed on Tableau.
Open text comments from New to UCL have been shared with Heads of Department and Faculty Tutors.
New to UCL 2022 results (login required)
New to UCL: Frequently Asked Questions
- When does the survey open and close?
The survey runs for five weeks. It is open from 6th November to 17th December 2023.
- Who is it for? How can I find out if my students are included?
New to UCL is for all new students, including:
- Undergraduates
- Postgraduate taught
- Postgraduate research
- Students on foundation degrees and studying via affiliates.
This includes students in the UCL Centre for Languages & International Education (CLIE).
We surveyed anyone who enrolled from 1 August 2023
- How do students take the survey?
The Student Engagement & Experience team will carry out the polling via email.
Eligible students will receive a personal link to the survey sent to their UCL email address.
Alternatively, they can log in to the survey via single sign-on.
- How can I promote it to my students?
There are various promotional materials available. You can download templates from this page when the survey is open, including digital marketing materials such as:
- Email signatures
- Web banners
- Digital screen images.
Most importantly, you can talk to your students about the survey and why their feedback is important to you and the department, giving examples of how student feedback has changed things in the past.
Speaking to students in lectures, or setting aside a time for students to take the survey in a computer cluster has been successful for departments in past surveys.
You can also remind students that they will automatically be entered into a prize draw with a £500 cash jackpot when they complete the survey. 50 runners-up will each receive a £10 Love2Shop voucher.
- What does the survey cover?
The survey covers:
- Motivations for studying at UCL
- Settling in
- Communications from the university
- Department welcome and academic support
- Awareness of UCL support services
- Arrival in UCL-managed accommodation.
The content of the survey is very similar to 2022, allowing year-on-year comparisons between results.
- Why are we surveying new students?
It is important that we gather feedback about the experiences of our new students, both to help us evaluate the success of events and services, and to make changes for next year if necessary.
We can also find out more about why students chose to study their particular programmes and explore the experiences of groups of students who are under-represented at UCL.
- Is the survey anonymous?
The responses to the survey are anonymous, and we don’t report responses in groups smaller than five, so no student can be identified from their answer.
We also discourage the responders from inadvertently identifying themselves or any other individual through a comment.
- What were the results last year?
You can explore the results from previous years on the You Shape UCL website (UCL login required).
- When will this year's results be published?
Headlines and results at the overall institution level can be viewed here.
- How many students responded last year?
Over 6,600 students completed New to UCL 2022, a 27% response rate.