The 2015 QILT – Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching – data drawn from a large survey of 145,000 students across Australia, has shed some light on how satisfied international students are at Australian universities.
The QILT survey program, including the Student Experience Survey (SES), is funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Education and Training.
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the data was part of a broader push to increase transparency in the higher education sector.
International students from all 40 Australian universities participated in the 2015 Student Experience Survey (SES).
In 2015, the overwhelming majority of students, 80%, expressed satisfaction with the quality of their entire educational experience.
Table: Satisfaction with the student experience 2015 – stratified by stage of studies Source: QILT 2015
Student satisfaction with different aspects of their student experience ranged from 86% for Learning Resources, 60% for Learner Engagement, 82% for Teaching Quality, 81% with Skills Development, and 72% expressed satisfaction with Student Support.
According to QILT 2015, in relation to male and female students, there were very few differences in percentage satisfied results. 
Male students are generally less likely to be satisfied with their educational experience than female students.
Table: Percentage satisfied scores by subgroup Source: QILT 2015
Further, it was noted that the students from a non-English speaking background were less likely than those who spoke English at home to be satisfied with every aspect of their educational experience.
International students, who were less likely than domestic students to report satisfaction across the five focus areas – Skills Development (79%), Learner Engagement (56%), Teaching Quality (78%), Student Support (70%), and Learning Resources (86%).
In this survey, it is interesting to note that international students who had previously been enrolled at another Australian university were less likely to be satisfied with Learner Engagement.
International students Source: AAP
