Sutton Bonington Kegworth Konnect Survey

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Introduction

This report for the Guild explores the online survey conducted to find out about the accessibility, transport and healthcare at Sutton Bonington (SB) Campus. Data collection was conducted during the middle of June 2018 through 13 questions. These questions consisted of individual responses (free text comments) and multiple choice questions. The survey gathered 327 student responses, this report will not only analyse these responses, but also provide recommendations for the Guild to implement.

Main Analysis

Q1. Are you a student or member of the community? This first question was a quick way of discovering who was answering the survey. No one skipped this question and it was found that all 327 people were students. This is beneficial as SB students are most affected by factors relating to SB, therefore, they will have the most insight regarding these matters. However, if the Guild would like to have the opinions of the wider community members aside from students, then it would be useful to conduct an additional survey aimed at this demographic.

Q2. Please tell us about your accommodation and community experiences. This question had three subparts to it. The first was to name the area which they lived in e.g. Kegworth, Nottingham or SB. The majority of respondents were living in SB (on campus). There are a substantial proportion also living in both Nottingham and Kegworth, and some lived in Grantham and Lenton. 100% of the 327 surveyed answered this question. 86.9% answered the second part of the three-part question whilst 82.3% answered the third. One possible reason for not gaining more answers is that people, particularly students, do not have the time to fit out individual answers and would prefer option boxes.

What could make you feel more a And what currently Recommendations part of the community? gets in the way of this? ‘More activities between campuses’ ‘There are none’ There is a need for more regular and ‘Nothing really’ varied activities to cater to every student. ‘Activities closer to 5pm’ ‘As I commute, waiting Weekly classes in sports, arts, movie until 8:30 for a group nights, cooking etc should be introduced ‘Moe activity at SB- super quiet and to start is unrealistic’ to provide SB students with a heightened seems like no one lives here’ zeal for their studies. These sessions should be conducted at a range of times and advertised well enough to get students to come - which will automatically increase the buzz on campus. ‘Better integration with SB students Poor transport This issue was one of the most common and main campuses’ Not enough done by topics addressed in the survey, therefore, ‘More inclusion with University Park’ university this should be resolved. ‘More transport links into Sutton Bonington and a student union in the Regular transport between the campuses village maybe’  Not enough people will allow for more integration and a sense ‘Having more regular buses to want to go to the barn, of inclusion with SB students who live far campus and Nottingham’ would be nice if a lot from the main campuses. This will ‘Better transport links’ went to the pub or if decrease loneliness and course we had a bar in the performance is likely to prosper. village for students’  ‘Not having a bus at all’

‘More events in the community such Similar to the desire and need for an N/A as at the pubs or in SB and not just increase in activities on campus, the on campus’ desire for more events was repeatedly

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

‘Things on an evening not just expressed. It is recommended that weekly weekends e.g. dance classes or pub quizzes (with ‘good prizes’) are cooking lessons’ introduced. Other events include course ‘No events that people are aware of events and year group events that can be happening’ arranged to give students something to look forward to. ‘Knowing my neighbours’ The distance between students and ‘Lack of communal ‘Knowing more students’ residents became clear when analysing the events’ ‘Local residents being friendlier’ responses. This tension and hostility ‘Their hatred for ‘Students and residents not arguing’ between the groups is unhealthy and students therefore needs to be addressed for better ‘Facebook tension’ quality of living. An event could be arranged such as a ‘meet and greet’ with students and residents having lunch together. Alternatively, a leaflet documenting the student’s aims of living there could be handed out to show their intention is not to disrupt. ‘Day trip to the near cities’ The notion of day trips is simple, therefore, ‘No time’ this could be easily organised at a small cost to students. A bus/coach trip into the surrounding cities such as Loughborough and Nottingham could be organised with an early departure to maximise the time spent in the city itself. ‘Feeling safer in the area’ (Lenton This is a rife issue presented to the council Crime resident) and university. Many students feel unsafe, particularly in Lenton. It is therefore necessary for the housing and accommodation services at the university to be highlighted to students who feel this way. Checks on private rented accommodation to ensure for CCTV, alarms and insurance can be promoted via student Facebook pages and on the UoN social medias.

Q3. Thinking back to when the Kegworth service was initially cancelled, would prior knowledge of this decision have affected your accommodation choices?

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Q3. THINKING BACK TO WHEN THE KEGWORTH SERVICE WAS INITIALLY CANCELLED, WOULD PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THIS DECISION HAVE AFFECTED YOUR ACCOMMODATION CHOICES?

Yes No Other

38% 55%

As 55% of those asked said that the knowledge of the Kegworth service would have affected their accommodation choices, it is apparent that more awareness must be raised in order to help future residents with their accommodation choices. This transport service (or lack of) could be highlighted in numerous ways, particularly via SMS, brochures, leaflets and emails all sent out prior to the final decision making. Apparent in the pie chart above, 7% stated ‘other’. Such responses include that some people have their own cars, so it did not affect them in the same way it did their friends. Other students noted that they could try and be a passenger in their friends’ cars. Most stated they were not students at that time whilst many stated that if they lived in Kegworth then they would have been seriously affected. This demonstrates the grave problem of transport that needs to be fixed with the introduction of bus links.

Q4. There are university owned houses available to students on College Road. Prior to this survey were you aware these houses existed?

University owned housing (in %) 100

60 72.6 53.7 40 46.3

20 27.4

0 Yes No Prior to this survey were you aware these houses existed? Would you ever consider living in one of these houses? As portrayed through the bar chart, 72.6% of those surveyed said that they were aware of these houses existence in comparison to the 27.4% who said they were unaware. It is worth considering why students

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018 may or may not have chosen to then live in these houses. Perhaps more advertising is required on the website to make sure everyone knows about the available options. These differences in percentages are echoed in the follow-up question whereby 53.7% said they would consider living in one of these houses opposed to 46.3% of those students who said they would not consider it. At an almost 50/50 split, it should be noted what is detracting people away from these houses. Are the prices too high? Is there easy transport links near there? These factors should be examined in more detail as the housing is not desired by just under half of those surveyed therefore business is not profiting to the maximum.

Q5. We've been made aware that the journey to university for some students is not deemed satisfactory and at times unsafe, we'd like to explore where the problem lies and begin to understand how we can find a solution for this. We're focusing on two specific roads, Station Road (after the canal bridge) and College Road. If you do not travel on these roads then please choose not applicable in the drop down menu or move to the next question. We’d like to know the main issues you experience for each type of transport you use, if you do not use some of these methods just skip these.

Main issue: The following section contains screenshots from the graphs produced by survey monkey – they represent what students believe are the main issues for the transport options (walk, cycle, drive and public transport) in percentages.

Below is the key for these graphs and a table displaying the amount of students who walk, cycle, drive or take public transport as their main mode of transport.

Main mode of transport: Amount of students (not including N/A): Walk 220 Cycle 150 Drive 219 Public Transport 132

Walk: It is evident from the graph below that the narrow paths or roads were viewed as the biggest issue (37.2%) for the 220 students who walk and pot holes or uneven surfaces are the issue which least concern them (1%).

Cycle: From the graph below we can see that of the 150 students who cycled 26.2% thought that pot holes or uneven surfaces were a main issue and 22.9% thought that the speed of drivers was the main issue.

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Drive: There were 219 students who responded that they drive. The graph below indicates that pot holes or uneven surfaces (51.4%) were the main issue troubling students who drive, following that was narrow paths or roads. However, this issue was felt by a substtantially lower amount of students (8.1%).

Public Transport: Of the 132 students who responded that they take public transport 52% responded that their main issue was other, following this was the option ‘no problems experienced’ at 13.1%.

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Frequency of issue: The following section refers to how frequent the previous issues are felt by students. Below is a key for the graphs which follow:

Walk:

The majority of students who walk face these issues on a daily basis (21.2%).

Cycle:

The majority of students who cycle face these issues on a daily basis (23.3%)

Drive:

The majority of people who drive face these issues on a daily basis (40%)

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Public Transport:

The majority of people who take public transport face these issues on a daily basis (16.7%).

Preferred solution: The following section refers to what the students preferred solution to the problems are. Below is a key for the following graphs:

Walk:

(All of the analysis below does not include the ‘Not Applicable’ option)

The majority of students who walk responded that they would like there to be wider footpaths (43.4%) to help solve their main issue with walking.

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Cycle:

The majority of students who cycle responded that their preferred solution to solve the main issue with cycling would be to have a cycle lane (42.1%).

Drive:

The majority of students who drive responded that their preferred solution to solve the main issue related to driving would be to have the road resurfaced (52.9%).

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Public Transport:

The majority of students who get public transport responded that their preferred solution would be other (18%).

Comments

There were a total of 170 comments and they related to unsafety, public transport, cycle lanes, parking and overgrown paths / narrow lanes.

Unsafety

 A lot of students mentioned that they did not feel safe walking because they would get cat- called or beeped at.  Drivers were described as being ‘utterly terrifying on the country roads around SB campus’, that they regularly attempt to overtake cyclists on blind bends, generally drive very fast and someone said they had been knocked off their bike by a car.  Street lighting is poor which deters students from walking or cycling.  Potholes have been resurfaced but are still bumpy for cyclists.

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

 Some students don’t dare to explore the environment outside of the campus even though they would like to as they say it would be at the ‘expense of our safety’.

Public Transport

 Many comments asked ‘What public transport?’ and others described how there was either a lack of public transport in Kegworth or that it was really expensive for such a short journey.  Public transport was also said to be very unreliable.  Some students requested more frequent buses.

Cycle Lanes

 Many students requested the need for cycle lanes and exclaimed that they would be amazing.  Cycle lanes would reduce the risk of cycling by making it safer.

Parking

 Some students commented how difficult it was to find parking on SB campus both for permit and non-permit holders and as a result it led to parking tickets and having to miss lectures.

Overgrown paths / Narrow Lanes

 Many students commented that the lanes were very narrow and that this is partly due to overgrown bushes and hedges. The implications of this means that students have to walk closer to the road, thus, making walking more dangerous.

Q6. Do you have a car at university?

Do you have a car at university?

No 38% Yes Yes 62% No

The above pie chart signifies the proportion of those surveyed who have a car at university. Out of the 327 only 2 skipped this question, potentially indicating that they do not have a car. Regardless, the statistics demonstrate that 38% of students do not have a car at university. This means that their travel to campus everyday may be problematic if there are no bus links. However, for the 62% who do have a car, this proves useful in the accessibility and transport to and from Sutton Bonington Campus.

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Q7. Do you experience any challenges finding a parking space at university?

Challenges finding parking spaces

21% 8% IN THE LOCAL 9% 19.50% VILLAGES 16.50% 26% 6.50% 31% ON SUTTON 34.50% 16.50% BONINGTON 4% 7.50%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00%

N/A 5= I experience this daily 4 3 2 1= I experience this less than once a month

The bar chart above shows the percentage of people who struggle finding car parking spots on both SB campus and in the local villages. From this we can decipher that students tend to find more parking spaces in the villages compared to SB campus in less than a month. It also shows that a high percentage of students experience a severe lack of parking on SB campus daily. It is therefore vital that more parking facilities are introduced to allow ease of being able to travel to and from university.

Q8. Please answer the following questions:

YES NO NOT SURE TOTAL Would you be 50.8% 23.4% 25.9% 201 interested in a 102 47 52 lift sharing service? Has parking at 61.2% 3.5% 35.3% 201 university 123 7 71 decreased in availability since September 2016?

From the findings displayed in the table above, just over half of those that answered the question said ‘yes’ that they would consider a lift sharing service. Therefore, this may be an area to further research as it could help the problem of not having enough car parking spaces, as well as being more environmentally friendly. However, of those who answered, 52 people said that they were ‘not sure’. This suggests that they could potentially be persuaded to lift share if they were provided with more information and specifics as to how this would work logistically. With regards to the second question displayed above, the vast majority of students who answered the question felt that university parking has decreased since 2016. Only 7 people felt that it had not, which in comparison is a miniscule number and can be attributed to the fact that they may not have cars so do not know whether parking has decreased or not. There could be multiple reasons in addition to this but the main point to focus on is the larger proportion who feel that the availability has suffered over the years.

Q9. How often have you used the following transport options?

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Frequency of use:

The table on the right has been taken directly from Survey Monkey and displays how frequently students have used the:

 Skylink bus (Loughborough > Nottingham via Kegworth and Sutton Bonington).  Skylink bus (Derby > Leicester via Kegworth and Loughborough).  865 bus (Clifton (park & ride) > Kegworth > Normanton on Soar via SB).  Tram (Clifton South park and ride).  Other.

The most popular answer for the Skylink bus (Loughborough > Nottingham) was ‘do not use it, but was aware of it’ with 68.5% of students selecting this response. The next most popular answer was once a month which 14.3% of students selected.

The most popular answer for the Skylink bus (Derby > Leicester) was also ‘do not use it, but was aware of it’ with 66.7% of students selecting this response. The second highest was ‘Do not use – wasn’t aware of it’ at 22%, and 7.2% said that they use it once a month.

The highest response answer for the 865 bus was ‘Do not use – wasn’t aware of it’ which 66.1% of students chose. The second highest answer was ‘Do not use, but wasn’t aware of it’ with 28.5% selecting this response. The findings from this mode of transport indicate that it could be beneficial to advertise this bus to SB students as the majority of them are not even aware that it exits, thus, this bus may help them in terms of accessibility issues.

The Tram was the only option where students have reported that they use it daily, however, the percentage of students who responded with this is very low (1%). However, this transport option appeared to be generally the most popular with 30% of students using it 2-3 times a month, 28.4% using it once a month and 6.3% using it 2-3 times a week. It is important to note that 25.9% were aware of it but don’t use it and 6% do not use it and weren’t aware of it. If there is any option of doing a discounted deal for SB students for the tram it may be beneficial for SB students and ease their concerns regarding accessibility.

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Main issues preventing you from using this route?

The table on the right has again been screenshotted from the survey monkey Kegworth Konnect survey and displays the options for students to select what their main issues are with the various transport options. These options are as follows:

 Unaware of service  Unreliable  Times not suitable  Cost  Route not practical  Do not need to use this route  Other

For the Skylink bus (Loughborough > Nottingham) the most common issue for the students who take this mode of transport was cost (39.8%). The second most common issue was that they do not need to take this route (27.4%) and the third most common issue was that the times were not suitable (12.4%). The issues with the lowest response was that they were unaware of the service (4.3%).

The most common issue for the Skylink bus (Derby > Leicester) was that they did not need to use this route (43%), the issue with the second highest response rate was cost (23.5%) and the third most common response was that they were unaware of the service (11.2%). The issue with the least amount of responses was other (1.7%).

In line with the previous table regarding frequency, the most common issue for the 865 bus was that the students were not aware of this service (44.3%) which further emphasises that this service should be advertised as a transport option for SB students. The second most common response was that they do not need to use this route (32.3%) and the third most common response was other (6.6%).

The most popular issue for the tram was that students did not need to use this route (36%), the second most common answer was that the route is not practical (24.8%) and the third most common answer was other (18.6%).

Comments:

There were a total of 60 comments and the majority of the comments related to cost, opportunity or unreliability of the transport options.

 Skylink buses were said to be ‘extortionately expensive’ and this deterred students from using them.  Many students noted that a bus which stopped close to the tram station would be very beneficial as there is currently no bus which takes them to the tram station from SB the only option is to drive there.  A few students commented that the Skylink was unreliable and often late and that this was their reasons for not using it.

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

Q10. Which is your current health surgery and your preferred health surgery?

Health Surgeries (%)

28.9 OTHER 71.1

21.8 CRIPPS 78.20%

90.9 SUTTON BONINGTON 9.1

5 KEGWORTH ORCHARD SURGERY 95

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Preferred surgery Current surgery

It is apparent from the bar chart above that the majority of those surveyed are based at Kegworth Orchard Surgery. However, only 5% who are registered there would say that this is their preferred surgery. This implies that they are only patients there for convenience rather than a high quality of service they are provided. In comparison, this is much smaller than the 90.9% who would prefer Sutton Bonington to be their health surgery. In order to improve this statistic or find out why people are not happy with the Kegworth surgery, it is worth conducting further questionnaires and/or research into what that surgery could do better to meet the needs of their student patients.

Q11. We’d like to ask you a few questions regarding part time employment, if you have never wanted a part time job please put N/A in the first text box and move to the next question.

Question Responses Frequent Responses Comments and Recommendations (12 skipped) Have you ever 98.7% ‘Yes’ The vast majority of the answers were wanted a part time 311 ’N/A’ a simple ‘yes’. Whether these people job at university? ‘I’ve thought about it, actually secured jobs or even sought but I haven’t really them out is undetermined as of yet. tried too hard to get However, it does indicate the desire or one’ need to either get money to survive as a student or to gain work experience.

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

During term time do 82.5% ‘No’ It is interesting that even though most you have a part time 260 ‘Yes’ students stated that they did want a job? ‘’I do 1 hour per week part time job, that these responses of lifeguarding for indicate that students don’t always Trent Uni’ attempt to get one or are unsuccessful ‘I did student at getting one. It may be useful for ambassador regularly students to know what sort of part for a while’ time jobs would fit around their studies as each course has different contact hours. What challenges 76.2% ‘Lack of options’ The key issues here were definitely have you 240 ‘Not enough time’ the unreliability of bus times, some experienced in ‘Uni/Work balance’ students stated that this prevented securing part time ‘Infrequent bus times them from applying for jobs due to employment? from SB’ the fear that they may be late. To ‘Lack of improve this, it is strongly advised that advertisement’ bus services become more frequent ‘Travel expenses’ and on time. Another issue was the ‘Managing time with heavy workload from the courses. This coursework’ is difficult to change, however, there ‘Unreliability of are university services available to buses’ combat stress, and thus, these could be more widely advertised. Also, Unitemps is a great way to fit some work around studies, therefore, this service should be promoted greatly.

Q12. The Sutton Bonington guild hosts late night events on campus, would you be interested in pre-paying an extra £1 on top of the price of your ticket and receive transport home from the event?

Willing to pay extra for transport?

21%

Yes No

79%

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018

79% of students surveyed would be willing to spend an extra £1 when purchasing event tickets in order to get guaranteed transport home. If a service like this was available, it would be great as from this entire survey it is apparent that transport links are a vital problem. However, 21% said that they would not pay for this - it may be beneficial to conduct more research as to why this is. Perhaps these are the students who have cars? Or is this because they feel that the event ticket price is high enough?

Q13. Do you have anything else you would like to add?

1. Really poor help for students struggling, the campus can be very isolating. 2. I was one of the many students who chose not to forego a traditional university experience by deciding to actually live in Nottingham. This makes sense when attending the University of Nottingham, rather than Loughborough. The bane of my university life was the long journeys to and from SB which were worsened by the inconvenient bus times. 3 busses and hour, 1 every 20 minutes. This is what is needed to improve the social lives and university experience of students at both SB and UP. 3. Additionally, to all the transport and accommodation issues, it would be much better if SB were to be included in the UP life and events as at the moment it feels very segregated from the main campus. 4. Hopper bus is very important. 5. I hope that the bus to Kegworth will not interfere with the route back to Nottingham. When it used to stop in Kegworth it was very annoying that the bus would have to detour through Kegworth on the way to Sutton Bonington campus and pick up more students on an already rammed full bus - would add a significant amount of time onto the journey especially in the morning. 6. Bus to Sports Village is poor. Takes a while to get to UP, then extra 30mins walk just to get to the gym. 7. Life in Sutton Bonington especially for an international student can be extremely lonely. A suggestion would be to have forums in which people can interact with each other and build relationships other than the once in a while events and events that will enable students to explore their surrounding e.g., walks, picnics around SB etc. because I believe there is much more to see beyond the campus fences and Nottingham City Centre and Loughborough.

Conclusion

In summary, the finding of this report consists of three main issues:

1. Students are unhappy with the transport links to and from Sutton Bonington campus, Nottingham city centre and other campuses. 2. Students feel isolated at SB and desire more activities and events to create the true student experience. 3. Students require more parking facilities or would like to know more about a lift sharing service.

These factors have been highlighted several times throughout this survey which emphasises the students’ strong feelings on these matters in particular. The accessibility in terms of transport is not adequate according to the students studying at SB, therefore, this should be fixed. In terms of healthcare, the majority of those surveyed would prefer a different health surgery to the one they are currently registered at, so it proves interesting as to why this may be.

Recommendations

In addition to the many recommendations listed throughout this report, it is strongly recommended that the Guild seek to implement stronger transport links between SB, the city, and the other campuses. These need to be regular and on time. If this is improved, this will subsequently aid many other issues that SB students currently face. For example, students will have access to University Park which has more events and activities. This will decrease the loneliness suffered at SB and increase the quality of

UoNSU Insight Team Shanai Momi (Supported by Sophie Hammond) July 2018 the university experience that students are paying for. They will also have access to more jobs and be able to apply to these without the fear of being late or not arriving safely back. In addition, it is advised that SB improves the atmosphere on that particular campus. It is apparent that students often venture to Kegworth for a cheaper night, therefore, if campus bars can offer good nights at cheap prices this will improve the comradery and bring a more positive atmosphere to the campus.