Hartpury University has been ranked number one in the UK by full-time postgraduate students in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2021. Ninety-one percent of full-time students are satisfied with the quality of their course, compared to a sector average of just 77%.
Hartpury also ranks number one in the UK for its postgraduate sports degrees, achieving 100% student satisfaction, against a sector average of 81%. Degrees in this group include MSc Sports Coaching, MSc Strength and Conditioning and MSc Applied Performance Analysis in Sport.
Overall, considering feedback from full-time and part-time students across all subjects, Hartpury ranks number four in the UK. Eighty-nine percent of postgraduate taught students are satisfied with the quality of their course, 11% above the sector average of 78%. These results reflect satisfaction across all courses including MRes Anthrozoology, MRes Animal Behaviour and Welfare, MSc Equine Science, MRes Equestrian Performance, MSc Sports Coaching, MSc Strength and Conditioning and MSc Applied Performance Analysis in Sport.
The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is the only UK higher education sector-wide survey to gain insight from taught postgraduate students – master’s, postgraduate certificate and postgraduate diploma qualifications – about their learning and teaching experience.
Specific areas examined are teaching and learning, engagement, assessment and feedback, organisation and management, and skills development. The survey also considers students’ motivations for taking their programme and – where relevant – their experience of undertaking a dissertation or major project. It was developed in consultation with the sector and robustly tested the survey across diverse disciplines, institutions and students to ensure it produces valid results.
Hartpury University, home to more than 2,000 students, offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in sport, equine, animal, agriculture and veterinary subjects.
Professor Stephen Draper, Academic Dean at Hartpury University, said: “As a small specialist university, we’re thrilled with these results and would like to say a big thank-you to everyone who took part in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2021.
We’re committed to providing our students with everything they need to fulfil their potential within an innovative and focused environment that’s at the forefront of our industries. We’ll continue to invest in postgraduate experience, in line with these survey results, as well as direct feedback from our students and employers, whom we liaise with regularly about developments.
We’ve introduced a number of new courses over the past 12 months to reflect emerging employment areas and will be expanding our portfolio further. We’re looking forward to seeing the results of these courses, as we continue to prepare students to make a difference to their own and others’ futures.”
Postgraduate provision at Hartpury is underpinned by three key themes – performance, health and wellbeing – that integrate subject areas. Performance is focused on striving for excellence in all activities; health is focused on optimising strength and adaptability in animals, individuals and communities; and wellbeing is focused on shaping individual, social and environmental wellness to enhance quality of life.
Hartpury University, among the UK’s newest universities, was officially granted university status in September 2018. Students have access to the largest equine educational establishment in the world, cutting-edge sports facilities, an extensive animal collection and therapy centre and a commercial farm. Teaching staff include leading academic and industry experts, driving forward postgraduate teaching and research.
