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CHAPTER EIGHT SATISFACTION WITH ILA SCOTLAND
8.1 This chapter examines satisfaction with ILA Scotland, in relation to the availability of courses, overall satisfaction with courses, and attitudes to specific aspects of courses.
Availability of courses
8.2 People who had undertaken or booked a course were mostly satisfied with the availability of courses covered by ILA. This is shown in Chart 8.1, which is based on findings from the wave 2 interviews.
Chart 8.1: Satisfaction with availability of courses among those who had undertaken or booked a course (% very or fairly satisfied)
Base: All successful applicants at wave 2 who had undertaken a course ( ILA200: 400, ILA100: 360)
8.3 Views towards the different aspects shown in Chart 8.1 were equally positive among participants of the two offers. In addition, although question wording differed between the two offers at the wave 1 interview, it was clear that views had not changed significantly between the two waves of interviewing.
8.4 Chart 8.2 looks at the same items among people who had not undertaken or booked any courses by the time of the wave 2 interview.
Chart 8.2: Satisfaction with availability of courses among those who had not undertaken or booked a course (% very or fairly satisfied)
Base: All successful applicants at wave 2 who had not undertaken a course ( ILA200: 231, ILA100: 236)
8.5 The views of people who had not booked or undertaken a course were more negative than those who had been on or booked a course. As shown in Chart 8.2, around three in five were satisfied with the different items; between 23% and 36% were dissatisfied. Once again, findings were similar between the two offers. There was similar feedback from the survey of unconverted enquirers: between 23% and 32% agreed that the courses were at inconvenient locations, that the times were inconvenient or that they couldn't find a subject that they wanted to do. These findings reflect the most common reasons given for not undertaking ILA funded learning, as discussed in section 6.5: ILA funding not being accepted on the chosen course and being unable to find an appropriate course.
8.6 Sub-group analysis, based on all respondents, whether or not they have undertaken a course, shows that:
- On ILA200, older respondents (over 50) were less satisfied with the range of courses available (62% compared with 76%), despite this age group being more likely to have undertaken a course
- Also on ILA200, those attending a course at a college were more satisfied than those attending courses at other locations; this applied to all three of the items shown in Chart 8.1
- On ILA100, those qualified to degree level or above were less satisfied with the three items shown in Chart 8.1 (between 64% and 69% satisfied, compared with 74% to 77% overall).
8.7 This last finding is again linked to earlier analysis on reasons for not undertaking ILA funded learning: those on ILA100 who were qualified to degree level or above were most likely to cite the limited scope of ILA as a reason for not undertaking a course; as shown here, they were also more critical than other respondents about the range and availability of courses. This suggests that while ILA is attractive to highly qualified people (a third of those on ILA100 are in the AB social grade), once on the scheme they can be restricted by the range of courses that are available.
Overall satisfaction with courses
8.8 At wave 1, respondents who had been on a course were asked whether the course had met or exceeded their expectations. Findings are shown in Chart 8.3.
Chart 8.3: Whether course had met or exceeded expectations
Base: All successful applicants at wave 1 who had undertaken a course ( ILA200: 541, ILA100: 477)
8.9 ILA200 respondents were more likely than those on ILA100 to say that the course had exceeded their expectations, although the majority on both offers said that the course had at least met their expectations. The proportion that said the course had been less useful than they had hoped or who wished they hadn't taken the course was 9% amongst those on ILA200 and 10% amongst those on ILA100.
8.10 At wave 2, people who had undertaken a course were asked for their overall satisfaction with the scheme overall. More than nine in ten said they were satisfied (96% on ILA200 and 93% on ILA100).
8.11 On both measures (courses meeting expectations and overall satisfaction), findings were broadly in line with the 90% policy target for satisfaction with the quality of ILA funded learning.
Satisfaction with aspects of the course
8.12 People who had been on courses funded by ILA Scotland were very positive towards various aspects of the course, specifically:
- The quality of teaching and course materials (at wave 2, 91% of ILA200 respondents were satisfied, as were 88% of those on ILA100);
- The quality of service provided by staff (at wave 2, 93% of ILA200 respondents were satisfied and 87% of ILA100 respondents); satisfaction was lower, however, amongst those on ILA100 who were qualified to degree level or above (78% satisfied);
- The support received from the learning provider whilst doing the course (at wave 1, 78% of ILA200 and 77% of ILA100 respondents were satisfied; most of the remainder rated this as adequate).
8.13 In addition, most people who had been on a course agreed that they had learned new skills (93% on ILA200, 94% on ILA100) and disagreed that the course was boring (93% on ILA200 and 90% on ILA100). Around two in three agreed that they became a more confident person because of doing the ILA funded course (71% on ILA200, 66% on ILA100).
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