The Australian College of Physical Education (ACPE) has a reputation for quality education in sport spanning 105 years. This has been further evidenced by the recent Student Experience Survey (SES) data released in which undergraduate students rated the quality of their experience across six indicators for Quality in Learning and Teaching (QILT). The most recent data indicates that ACPE has increased its lead across these indicators – performing consistently and significantly higher than the national average, the Non-University Higher Education Institution (NUHEI) average and university averages. The top 15 positions for the overall quality of the undergraduate student experience are all NUHEI providers. ACPE is in 14th position across all providers (universities and NUHEIs) for the overall quality of the student experience with a rating of 88.5% which is 17.7% higher than the national average. Providers who ranked higher do not offer the same disciplines as ACPE. ACPE features in the top 15 positions across five out of the six indicators of Quality in Teaching and Learning in the results of the most recent SES survey.
In terms of teaching quality, ACPE is in the 9th position (across all universities and NUHEIs) with a rating of 94.4% which is 15.7% higher than the national average and 23.7% higher than the university average. Debbie Le Roux, CEO of ACPE said “ACPE is proudly different. Being a smaller provider is a strength in many ways. It allows the institution to be more agile and responsive to change which was particularly evident during the disruption of the pandemic. Additionally, having lower staff to student ratios enables us to provide much higher levels of bespoke support to our students and allows us to really get to know them as individuals. We understand that each student is unique and therefore we endeavour to ensure that each student is supported throughout their journey. The data says that our students agree. ACPE achieved stellar ratings for student support at 92.9% which is 20 percentage points above the national average.”
In terms of teaching quality in study areas, ACPE has retained its leading position in Health courses with a rating which is 18 percentage points higher than the national average. ACPE’s Sport coaching courses which fall under Humanities, Culture and Social Sciences study area, achieved a similar result with ratings which are 16 percentage points higher than the national average. ACPE courses in Sports Business which fall in the domain of Business and Management achieved ratings which are 19 percentage points higher than the national average.
Ms Le Roux said that “a positive and quality student experience is at the heart of everything we do at ACPE. For new students who are making decisions about where to study in 2023, the best source of information on what to expect at a higher education institution is to hear from the horse’s mouth – from students who have been there. This is why the positive ratings on the Student Experience Survey (SES) data is invaluable – it cuts through the marketing spin.” Ms Le Roux stated that “student and industry feedback are invaluable sources of information for ACPE. Feedback informs many of the decisions we make and allows us to constantly adapt and tweak our courses and services to students and partners to ensure that our graduates are thoroughly equipped for their intended career and industry ready.”
Skills development in ACPE’s teacher education courses scored 6 percentage points higher than the national average. Our teacher education courses are sought after with a 100% employment rate.
The overall employment rate in the Graduate Destination Survey indicates that 9 out of 10 students from ACPE are employed within the first 6 months of graduating. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests that most students gain employment prior to graduation as a result of engaging with our extensive partnership network and engagement with industry during their studies.
Our students’ experiences speak volumes about what it means to study at ACPE.
