Enhancing the international student experience at the University of Huddersfield.
The University of Huddersfield's long-term engagement with the International Student Barometer (ISB) demonstrates how a structured and data-driven approach can drive continuous improvement in the international student experience. By embedding the ISB into its institutional strategy and using its insights effectively, the university has made significant strides in multiple key areas while identifying and addressing challenges. In this article, we hear from International Student Experience Manager, Alan Tobi, how the ISB has been a key tool in shaping the university’s efforts.
Strategic integration of the ISB
The University of Huddersfield has participated in the ISB for nearly 15 years, integrating its findings into the strategic goals outlined in its seven-year institutional strategy maps. A critical Key Performance Indicator (KPI) linked to the ISB is measuring the university’s international student experience against global and UK comparators (as well as against their equivalent peer universities), with a particular focus on the overall student experience, and measures of student integration.
Organisational commitment and collaboration
The university employs a collaborative, multi-level approach to maximise the impact of the ISB. A core working group, including the Pro Vice-Chancellor for International, the international student experience team, and the planning department, oversees the project, ensuring insights are disseminated across the university. Additionally, the university engages international leads from each faculty, who play a pivotal role in promoting survey participation, which has seen the university achieve up to 43% response rates, and acting on the findings.
Leading the way with the arrival and pre-arrival experience
Their approach is certainly paying dividends on a number of fronts, not least the arrival and pre-arrival experience. University of Huddersfield’s application-to-offer process is faster, and achieves a higher student satisfaction rate, than the UK benchmark; overall arrival satisfaction with arrival exceeds the UK benchmark (95% vs 93%); and it’s a similar picture with their face-to-face and online orientation satisfaction, both formats exceeding the UK benchmark.
The pre-arrival phase also covers metrics on agents, including not only satisfaction levels but also how important they are to students’ decision-making processes.
At Huddersfield, the top influence on students’ choice of institution is Education Agents, with 44% of students saying it was important, compared to a UK benchmark of 35%, so it is a critical part of the university’s recruitment efforts requiring careful management. Given the university’s strategic approach to ISB usage, it is hardly a surprise that they outperform the UK benchmark in all 8 aspects evaluated under the heading of agents, and that student satisfaction with agents comes in at a lofty 96% compared to the UK benchmark of 93%. Alan puts this down to a number of factors.
“It’s good because it means the training that's been happening with the recruitment team is impacting things, and the way we regulate and oversee our different agents seems to be working – we’re pretty hands-on when it comes to managing those relationships, so if an agent isn’t performing they come under a lot of scrutiny and ultimately come off the list if we don’t see improvement.”
Another related area where focus and efforts are paying off that relating to visas. The university has a dedicated Immigration and Compliance team in the International Office working heavily with students to help them navigate the process to good effect – every aspect measures exceeds the satisfaction level of the UK benchmark.
Other notable highlights
Elsewhere, the university’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), a measure of likelihood to recommend, has shown a strong positive trajectory over multiple years, and their value for money score tracks just ahead of the UK benchmark. Interestingly, however, satisfaction with this element specifically amongst undergraduates significantly exceeds benchmark (88% vs 80%).
Overall satisfaction with the living component scores favourably - 93% satisfaction vs 90% UK benchmark; day-to-day life at University of Huddersfield (eg. feeling safe and secure on campus; campus environment; worship facilities; transport links) also reflects this with eight out of nine aspects exceeding benchmark.
And students are significantly more satisfied with accommodation at the university, in terms of access, cost and quality.
Addressing challenges
While the ISB has been instrumental in driving many successes, it has also highlighted ongoing challenges, particularly in two key areas:
- Integration
The university acknowledges the difficulty of improving students’ perceptions of integration and making friends with UK students. Barriers to fostering meaningful cross-cultural interactions remain significant hurdles, but Alan and the teams remain determined to meet their strategic KPIs related to integration measures, by maintaining their development of cultural activities and integration-focused initiatives. - Targeted improvements in careers support
One area Alan and the team at Huddersfield highlighted as requiring attention in the previous strategic plan was that of career support.
“We identified through the ISB results and presentation from the Etio consultants that international students would welcome further support with regards careers advice, so we’ve directed a lot of extra effort and resources in that direction in the last few years.”
And when we analyse the data, we see that international students at University of Huddersfield have higher expectations than the UK benchmark in all 10 aspects of career support, but despite this, satisfaction with careers support tracks in-line with benchmark, so the initiatives being introduced and work being done there is taking the university very much in the right direction.
Key take-aways for Higher Education Leaders
The University of Huddersfield’s experience with the ISB underscores the importance of:
- Embedding KPIs into institutional strategy: Aligning the ISB with strategic goals ensures its findings directly inform institutional priorities.
- Cross-departmental collaboration: Success depends on coordinated efforts across faculties, planning teams, and student services.
- Actionable insights: Using ISB data to identify strengths and weaknesses allows for targeted improvements, even in resource-constrained environments.
- Long-term commitment: Sustained participation in the ISB enables tracking progress over time, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
The University of Huddersfield’s long-standing engagement with the ISB demonstrates its commitment to enhancing the international student experience. While challenges remain, the survey has proven invaluable in identifying strengths, driving targeted interventions, and monitoring progress. For senior leaders in higher education, the ISB offers a powerful framework to benchmark performance, inform decision-making, and prioritise resources effectively.
