The 2021 Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) survey results have been released, and the results are incredible! There is a lot of exciting information to cover, so let us dive right in.

About QILT

QILT (pronounced ‘quilt’ if you were not too sure!), are a series of government endorsed surveys for higher education, where students have their say. It covers the entire student lifecycle, from when students first start their studies to when they begin their employment. What we will be focusing on is the Student Experience Survey (SES), which is one of the largest QILT surveys.

About SES

SES is a survey of current higher education students. The survey covers the overall quality of the educational experience, skills development, learner engagement, teaching quality, student support, and learning resources.

2021 SES Results

2021 was not a normal year (but can we really call any year normal at this point?). We had the pandemic to deal with which included lockdowns and a continuation of online learning. Although we all learned from our 2020 experiences, there was still so much uncertainty about the upcoming year – when would lockdowns end? Will we shift to on-campus learning? When will the borders open?

So, what did students say about their 2021 study experience? The overall quality of the educational experience for Sydney Institute of Business and Technology (SIBT) rose to 81% in the 2021 SES Survey*, which is well above the industry average of 74% for non-universities and 73% for universities!

We saw an increase in student satisfaction ratings across the Skills Development, Teaching Quality and Student Support categories when comparing to the previous reporting period.

• Skills Development saw an increase from 76% to 77.5%. ‘Developed ability to work effectively with others’ saw a rebound from the previous period, while ‘developed spoken communication skills’ also saw an increase.
• Student Support saw an increase from 74.7% to 77.1%. There was a lot of positive feedback for an efficient enrolment and admissions process and the helpfulness/availability of academic or learning advisors.
• Teaching Quality saw the largest increase, where we went from 70.6% to 78.5%. Students’ ratings for the quality of teaching, the structure and focus of their studies, and the engagement of teaching staff with their learning, all increased in 2021.

After 25 years of successfully supporting students, we are proud to have achieved such a result. The culmination of years of experience has given us a strong understanding of what comes first, even in troubling times, and that is and always will be our students.

Thank You

To all of you who participated in the survey, thank you. The feedback you have provided means a great deal to us, and we feel so honoured that you decided to study with us. In the midst of the pandemic and all its challenges, we are so proud of the way you handled yourselves and wish you all the best with your university studies or your new career.

For our new, current, and future students, we are excited about what the year ahead will bring. We have now returned to campus and our on-campus activities are in full swing (check out your student emails to see what activities are coming up this week!). Our support team care about your wellbeing and your studies, and they want you to succeed. If you have any questions about your studies, then you can book an appointment with the support team here.

*The national report only shows the results for each category and not for individual questions. Survey results are available through the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching website.