Explorance Blue and MLY to “reboot and relaunch” Newcastle University’s approach to student surveys

Newcastle University, a member of the Russell Group, is now using Explorance Blue and Explorance MLY as it develops its provision to support an institutional priority around student voice. The University, which last year commissioned Blue to provide employee insights, has turned to Explorance again to replace its current provider as part of a wider approach to “reboot and relaunch” its approach to student surveys.

“The University has run student surveys for student experience and student satisfaction for many years, and through our previous surveys tool we had to undertake manual comment analysis ourselves which took a lot of time,” explained Rachel Dearlove, Head of Education Policy and Governance. “The system we were using was clunky so, as well as the comment analysis issue, it no longer fitted our institutional need.

“We took the opportunity to look at other solutions, and with our People Services team already using Explorance we began a conversation with them on Blue and MLY. We were very impressed with what they can bring in terms of feedback and analysis, but all round it is a much more flexible solution. Explorance are effectively replacing two systems for us which brings huge possibilities to manage our current surveys in a more efficient way, and in turn create surveys for other parts of the institution.”

The University has a core set of student surveys: the Newcastle Experience Survey, National Student Survey (NSS), Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) and Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES). There is also a potential new entrant survey which may be supported by Explorance. “Blue will give us a good data, and access to it, by coordinating and bringing all surveys together,” Rachel added.

Education Policy Manager Lucy Blake, who manages the roll-out of student surveys, commented: “It is clear just how easy Explorance’s systems are to use, from initial feedback to data analysis; it is simple for the University to see where improvements can be made and, as we are able to get results in a fast and efficient manner, we can respond to current cohorts.

“With our previous system and manual manipulation there was always room for error but with Explorance we have all the quantitative and qualitative data in one place. This means we can do the analysis together and start asking why results are the way they are. It gives our academic colleagues the information they require, what students said we did well and where they suggest could be an area for improvement. Staff can see survey results in a clear and accessible report, which include recommended development areas.

Whilst the University is currently implementing Blue and MLY, Lucy reflected on the value-add of the collaboration. “Explorance are very supportive, which is essential,” she said. “They answer questions immediately and the team are super helpful which is really important for any institution. We are new to the system, so having access to other institutions already using Blue and MLY across the UK through a regular meeting is very useful as we can share experiences and best practice.”

On MLY, which is used by a growing number of universities in the UK and globally, Rachel revealed she was “very excited about its ability to provide better insight on open comments”.

“MLY is a huge time saver,” she said. “Under our previous system we calculated it was taking five days to manually code each set of comments for each survey. For a small team, which we are, that is a huge chunk of time. MLY is great technology that exists to save time and means we can go out and engage staff and students in the process of providing meaningful feedback and use the results. Having a very good large-scale dataset is where we want to see the changes, and there is an opportunity to both impact and increase response rates, but also get earlier insights to use to positively develop the student experience. Overall, Blue and MLY will allow us to reboot and relaunch our approach to surveys, and the use of AI fits our wider institutional approach around education usage.”

John Atherton, VP Sales EMEA at Explorance, added: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Newcastle University, and support the institution in providing a really comprehensive approach to capturing and analysing quantitative and qualitative feedback from their student community. With student voice featuring heavily as an institutional priority in the University’s new education strategy, we look forward to making a genuine impact.”