Results of the spring 2025 student survey 

Xamk is versatile, inspiring, innovative, high-quality, modern, and up-to-date

Students who started their studies at Xamk in spring 2025 responded to an arrival survey.  According to the survey, students feel that cooperation within study groups and with the staff has been very smooth. Master’s degree students, in particular, feel that their study skills are at a good level. Students feel that student tutoring has helped them start their studies and that Learn is the most important channel of communication for them.  

The possibilities for internationalisation at Xamk are good, and students also consider the study opportunities offered by Xamk to be appealing. Students’ opinion of the attractiveness of the campus city has improved since last spring. Open study path students, in particular, rate their willingness to recommend Xamk to others very highly and also think that Xamk has a good reputation as a place to study. 

The results are excellent overall; three statements received a median (the middle value of a group) response of 5, those being related to student cooperation and communication forums. The median response for other statements was 4, i.e., somewhat good. For master’s degree students, only the statement concerning the attractiveness of the campus city received a slightly lower median response of 3. 

STARTING OF STUDIES 

Studies have mainly started well. Of bachelor’s and master’s degree students, 75% and 83%, respectively, responded that the statement “I feel that my studies have started well” reflected their opinion “very well” or “somewhat well”. 

In open-ended feedback regarding the start of studies, students expressed opinions on Xamk’s systems; for some, the systems were functioning well, whereas some students had difficulties getting started with the systems. Students also brought up challenges in time management and gave positive feedback to the teaching staff.  

“I’m pleasantly surprised by how diverse our assignments and school days have been.  Teachers put much focus on clarity, which has helped immensely in our orientation.” – Xamk’s master’s degree student.  

STUDY GUIDANCE AND PROGRESS 

To the statement “Cooperation within my study group has been smooth,” 88% of bachelor’s degree students and 87% of master’s degree students responded “very well” or “somewhat well”.

As for the statement “Cooperation with the staff has been smooth,” 89% of bachelor’s degree students and 87% of master’s degree students responded “very well” or “somewhat well”.

The responses to the statement concerning students’ awareness of the possibility for recognition of competence (RC) varied between degree programmes. Of bachelor’s and master’s degree students, 79% and 74%, respectively, responded “very well” or “somewhat well”. Open study path students’ awareness of recognition of competence had risen to the same level as degree students. 

Master’s degree students, in particular, feel that they have sufficient study skills; their median response to the statement “My study skills are sufficient for higher education studies” was 5. As many as 93% of master’s degree students responded ”very well” or ”somewhat well” to this statement, whereas the number for bachelor’s degree students was 75%. There were, however, differences in the responses between degree programmes.  

The responses to the statement “My personal study plan (PSP) has helped me to plan my studies” varied largely between different bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes, and the median response to this statement was 4. The number of bachelor’s and master’s degree students who responded “very well” or “somewhat well” to this statement was 60% and 57%, respectively. A total of 76 bachelor’s degree students provided open-ended feedback related to study guidance and study progress. The feedback highlighted matters such as inconsistent quality of PSP discussions and guidance. 

TUTORING

Of bachelor’s degree students, 16.5% (90 respondents) had utilised tutoring. To the statement “Student tutoring has helped me,” 85% of respondents responded “very well” or “somewhat well”. The responses varied between different degree programmes.  Bachelor’s degree students submitted 20 positive open-ended responses regarding student tutoring. 
“The tutor was really helpful and answered to all the questions that I had.” – Xamk’s bachelor’s degree student. 

COMMUNICATION FORUMS 

The importance of Learn received the highest rating in the entire survey, with 86% of bachelor’s degree students and 95% of master’s degree students responding that Learn is a very or somewhat important communication forum.  

Tuudo was also considered a very important communication forum. However, its importance had decreased, with 68% of respondents responding “very well” or “somewhat well” compared to last year’s 80%, and the responses varied significantly between degree programmes.   The importance of the Lux intranet also varied widely between different degree programmes. Other important communication forums were considered to be email, Teams, and WhatsApp.   

BRAND

Bachelor’s degree students’ possibilities for internationalisation have improved, and students also consider the study opportunities offered by Xamk to be attractive 

Of bachelor’s degree students, 78% responded that the statement “Xamk offers possibilities for internationalisation” reflects their opinion very well or somewhat well, a figure that is three percentage points higher than the previous spring. The statement received “I cannot say” responses from 12% of respondents.  

To the statement “Xamk offers attractive study opportunities,” 85% of bachelor’s degree students responded that this reflected their opinion “very well” or “somewhat well”, the same as last spring.  

Among bachelor’s degree students, the statement “Xamk stands out from other universities of applied sciences” received the most “I cannot say” responses, i.e., 22%. 

The attractiveness of campus cities has increased, and the willingness to recommend is high for open study path students in particular 

As in previous years, the statement that received the lowest rating was “The campus city is appealing.” However, the rating has improved, as the median response from bachelor’s degree students was 4 (as compared to last year’s 3), and from master’s degree students, 3. 

Open study path students, in particular, would be very willing to recommend Xamk, and they also think Xamk has a very good reputation as a place to study.  

The median response from open study path students to the statement “Xamk has a good reputation as a place to study” was 5. In contrast, the median response from bachelor’s and master’s degree students was 4.  

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) indicates how willing students are to recommend their degree programmes to others. In this survey, the NPS was calculated based on the question, “How likely is it that you would recommend your degree programme to a friend or acquaintance?” A Net Promoter Score of over 50 is considered high.  

The Net Promoter Scores were as follows: 

• Bachelor’s degree students: 32 

• Master’s degree students: 35 

• Open study path students: 56 

A total of 101 bachelor’s degree students provided reasons for why they would recommend their degree programme, highlighting factors such as the teaching staff, the flexibility of blended/online studies, and the quality of teaching.  

“Excellent teaching. Diverse possibilities for employment. Possibilities for internationalisation. Interesting studies providing valuable know-how.” – Xamk’s bachelor’s degree student. 

According to the respondents, adjectives that would best describe Xamk are versatile, inspiring, innovative, high-quality, modern, and up-to-date. 

ARRIVAL SURVEY IN BRIEF

The arrival survey responses were collected during March and April from students who began their studies in January 2025.  

• A total of 754 students responded to the survey, making the response rate 53%. 

• For bachelor’s degree students, the response rate was 56%, with a total of 545 respondents. 

• For master’s degree students, the response rate was 38%, with a total of 92 respondents.  

• For open study path students, the response rate was 45%, with a total of 117 respondents. 

The survey collects information about   

• starting of studies;  

• study guidance and progress;  

• student tutoring;   

• communication forums related to studies;   

• likelihood to recommend;   

• Xamk’s brand.   

• All degree students and open study path students respond to the arrival survey during their first semester. The survey is conducted anonymously.    

The response options were: 5 = very well, 4 = somewhat well, 3 = neither poorly nor well, 2 = somewhat poorly, 1 = very poorly, and, finally, “I cannot say,” which was not taken into account when calculating the mean responses.