Learners give WEA top marks

Three out of every four WEA learners interviewed in a recent survey said that their course had made them more enthusiastic about the subject they studied, and just over half said they had become more confident about their ability to learn. Other positive changes reported included greater social confidence (41% of learners) and benefits to health (38%).

The survey also found that 38% of the learners had been “extremely satisfied” with their learning, while a further 47% were “very satisfied”. Most of the remainder were “fairly satisfied” - with only 4% of those sampled being at all dissatisfied with their course.

The top reason for choosing the WEA as an organisation to learn with was that it was easier to get to than colleges, with personal recommendations and leaflets or brochures being the next most common reasons. No fewer than 79% of respondents intend to go on a WEA course again, while the remainder stated that they would carry on learning with another provider.

WEA tutors were rated highly, with 99% of learners describing their tutors as either "very good" or "good" on their knowledge of their subject. Tutors’ ability to make the subject interesting, handle the class and relate to learners as individuals were all given marks well over 90%.

The survey was conducted by telephone on a representative sample of 100 recent learners by company MSS Research. For a full version of the results, click on the link on the right. For more information contact the WEA Education Strategy Team by emailing nbooth@wea.org.uk.