UCC scores top marks in global survey

UNIVERSITY College Cork is considered to be one of the best universities in the world, according to an international survey.

Foreign students at UCC reported very high levels of satisfaction with teaching and learning facilities, support services and the quality of campus life. They also found Cork to be a warm and welcoming city.

The findings are contained in the first report of the International Student Barometer, a comparative survey of 67,000 international students studying at 84 institutions.

According to the study, carried out by the London-based International Graduate Insight Group, UCC was in the top three of the 84 universities for sports and social facilities. The quality of education also scored highly with 98% of UCC’s international students saying they had “expert lecturers”.

Of the support services, the International Education Office rated particularly high, outperforming other institutions with a satisfaction rating of 93% compared to an average of 85%. IT support attracted a satisfaction rating of 92% compared with an average of 86%.

UCC came first among a group of British and Irish universities for the quality of its International Education Office and also scored first as “a good place to be”.

One Chinese postgraduate student wrote: “‘I don’t feel like a foreigner here. The people are so friendly.”

A Canadian student summed up his experience in glowing terms. “UCC is fantastic. The staff are brilliant and I could not ask for a better experience.”

“This is an excellent result for UCC,” said Louise Tobin, director of International Student Recruitment and Strategy at UCC.

“It confirms what we felt to be the case. It is a great endorsement of our work as we put a lot of effort into minimising any adjustment difficulties that our international students may experience when coming here.”

The outcome of the survey represents good news, not just for the university, but also for Cork city and the surrounding region.

Most respondents, 90%, found Cork to be a welcoming and friendly environment for international students with 84% of those surveyed saying they would recommend UCC as a place to study.

“We have a large mix of nationalities and ethnic backgrounds so it is good to know they feel secure both within the university and outside it,” said Ms Tobin.

“It is also gratifying to learn that our international students find a UCC degree to be particularly valuable. Our Chinese students, in particular, perceive a UCC degree as being very worthwhile and one that can help them command good salaries.”

She added that the survey would also help UCC to improve facilities.

“Obviously, the survey also showed certain weaknesses. We are already addressing those and constantly looking at ways of making the experience of international students even better.”

UCC has more than 2,000 international students.

* Further information on international programmes at UCC may be found at: www.ucc.ie/international.