Bradford College has ranked in the top three institutions in England offering ophthalmic dispensing (Dispensing Optician) higher education courses, according to the recently published National Student Survey (NSS).
The annual independent NSS survey gathers final-year undergraduates’ opinions on the quality of their courses. Students were asked 27 questions covering various aspects of their higher education experience. Feedback from Ophthalmic Dispensing undergraduates placed Bradford College in the top three education institutions nationally for six out of the seven survey categories.
The college ranked first place nationally by these students for the theme of student voice (listening and acting on individual and collective student views). This result was an impressive 20.8% above the national benchmark.
The College’s Ophthalmic Dispensing also came in second place nationally for the themes of learning opportunities (11.6% above benchmark) and academic support (13.9% above benchmark) and ranked third place for marking and assessment (11.2 % above benchmark), organisation and management (22.5% above benchmark) and learning resources (6.9% above benchmark).
In total, 423 universities, colleges and higher education providers from England participated and 290,639 students responded.
Asa Gordon, Vice Principal for Curriculum at Bradford College, said: “I’m delighted this latest NSS survey shows such positive results for our flexible higher education curriculum and specialist part-time programmes such as Ophthalmic Dispensing. The feedback will help shape the student experience at Bradford College for all our higher-level learners, and for part-time adult learners who balance various commitments.
“I’m also really pleased to see the significant uptake in survey responses from our higher education students – up over 10% from 2022 and this year’s national average. Thanks go to our staff who continue to make a huge difference to the lives of local learners.”
The need for more qualified professionals in the UK was evidenced by research undertaken at the start of this year by search engine Adzuna. Over 1 million advertised job vacancies were analysed in November 2022 compared with results to the same period in 2021. Research revealed that optometrist roles saw a +108% increase in vacancies and optician +90% increase, making these the 13th and 15th most trending jobs of 2023.
Bradford College has offered ophthalmic dispensing training for over 70 years and is one of the UK’s most respected optical education providers. The college has an established partnership with Specsavers, and courses include part-time Level 6 Diplomas in Ophthalmic Dispensing, a full-time BSc (Hons) in Ophthalmic Dispensing, and a part-time ABDO Low Vision Honours qualification.
A £5.8m investment from the Higher Education Capital Fund will soon transform the college’s Garden Mills building into a flexible higher education STEM training site. The building will include specialist ophthalmic dispensing facilities such as an ophthalmic dispensing suite, science laboratories, clinical suite and a real-life work environment with consulting and testing booths.
The NSS results also showed that across all higher education courses, Bradford College students believe their feedback on a course is acted on, it is easy to contact teaching staff when needed, they receive assessment feedback on time, and teaching staff make the subject engaging (4.7%, 4.4%, 3.3%, and 3.4% above national benchmarks respectively).
Bradford College teaches flexible full-time and part-time higher technical, professional, and degree courses, including honours degrees and post-graduate programmes, foundation degrees, HNDs and HNCs. Over 1,000 students study higher technical, professional programmes, and degrees at Bradford College every year. Courses are career-focused to give students a head start into the industry in which they aspire to work.
Bradford College still has clearing places available. For more information, visit: https://www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk/support/students/clearing-and-late-applications/
