Student value for money statement 2022/23   

 

Introduction

ICON College is committed to providing its students with full value for money in return for the fees paid. This statement, which is to be updated annually, explains how student fees are used and how the College demonstrates the value to students.

 

Student fees

Student fees are currently capped at £6,500 for Higher National Diploma (HND), £6,000 for Diploma in Education and Training (DET) and £7,500 for Bachelor’s Degree courses per year, and students can take out a loan to cover the cost. Fee loans are only repaid when a graduate is earning above a certain amount, currently £27,295. The actual amount a student will pay for their course will therefore depend on how much they earn after graduating. After allowing for retained earnings and provision for future investment, all of the College’s income in the year was applied for educational purposes, directly or indirectly.
 

Student value

The real test of value for money is whether students derive direct benefit from their time at the College. Our data tells us that:

•    In 2019, the College was awarded Silver in the Teaching Excellence Framework.

This means that we deliver high-quality teaching, learning and outcomes for our students, and consistently exceed "rigorous national quality requirements" for higher education in the UK.

•    From the last visit in 2018, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education reviewed provision at the College and concluded that the quality of student learning opportunities meets UK expectations.

 

Student Experience

ICON College is proud of the consistent and longstanding excellence of the experience it offers to its students. In the National Student Survey (NSS) 2022, all metrics, including response rate, were above the sector average, and notably satisfaction with assessment and feedback and learning community were around 20% above. These results are evidence of our ethos of investing in each students’ learning journey, both as individuals and as part of wider programme cohorts. 

NSS Survey Results 2022

ICON College of Technology and Management

Response rate

	ICON %	Sector %
Core NSS Questions	75	69
NHS practice placement questions	<10	73

 

% Agree

	ICON %	Sector %
The teaching on my course	88.61	80.05
Learning opportunities	89.03	79.37
Assessment and feedback	85.80	68.53
Academic support	84.32	73.88
Organisation and management	83.37	69.88
Learning resources	80.96	80.90
Learning community	85.38	68.22
Student Voice	82.62	66.54
Overall satisfaction	88.50	76.29

 

Student Voice

All our students are encouraged to make use of their voice to reflect on, and where appropriate, enhance their learning experience. This is something the College regards as very important in developing the social capital of our student demographic.  Not every student becomes a student representative, but the College encourages as many as possible to do so, and this promotes negotiation skills, constituent feedback, and a growth in maturity of outlook. It engenders a sense of responsibility for those students who take on the role.  At the same time, every student is invited to engage in student feedback at course and programme level. This encourages the notion that each and every student’s view is important, and that students can impact their learning experience.  Students are each given time within a teaching session to fill in the ICON Student Feedback Survey, and it is a short questionnaire, which means there is a very good response rate. This view is confirmed by the NSS 2022, where the student voice ratings were very high, including 100% for Health and Social Care.

 

Completion Rate

The completion rates based on the enrolment are as follows:

•   Academic year 18/19 HND students overall completion rate is 75.33%

•   Academic year 19/20 HND students overall completion rate is almost 70%

•   Academic year 20/21 Top-Up (level 6) students overall completion rate is 73.20%

  

Student Services

Each student has a Personal Tutor for the duration of their study.
Students are offered a Counselling Service through the Private Therapy Clinic which is a private company for the duration of six sessions free of charge.
Students are offered academic career advice and disability support.
 

Conclusion

Students at ICON College will find their fees employed effectively to provide a worthwhile student experience and there is data to support this conclusion.