Students say Oxbridge Academy's service is top-notch

Oxbridge Academy awarded its 30 000th certificate this month, testifying to its position as a leading distance learning provider in South Africa. But graduation numbers alone do not tell a full story. Wanting to know exactly what its students thought about studying at Oxbridge Academy, it asked all those who graduated during the past year to tell the academy more about their experiences of studying with Oxbridge.

Here is what some students had to say:

Firstly, the academy asked its graduates the simple - yet telling - question: Did you enjoy studying at Oxbridge Academy?

To this:

* Over 96% of students responded they either 'agreed', or 'strongly agreed'.

Following this, the college asked a series of questions that related to its service delivery methods and performance. What it learned was:

* 95% of its students felt they received their study materials on time. * 89% felt they received sufficient responses to their queries from student advisors. * 89% knew who to contact whenever they needed help with their coursework.

Oxbridge Academy also wanted to know what its graduates thought of the content of their courses. So the college asked them whether they felt they had gained sufficient knowledge from their studies.

To this:

* 30% of its students 'agreed'. * 69% 'strongly agreed'.

Oxbridge Academy then asked its students whether the courses they had just completed had already impacted their ability to secure employment, a promotion, or a salary increase.

To this:

* 56% of graduates 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed'. * 35% of students did not respond to this question.

A possible explanation for the lack of response to this last question is that many new graduates might have felt it was too early to tell. But with a national unemployment rate of 26.4% - the highest since 2003 - the responses it did get were extremely encouraging.

Finally, Oxbridge Academy also asked its graduates for any additional feedback they wanted to give. The amazing comments it received here largely summed up the overall feedback Oxbridge Academy received:

"I gained experience in this course; they were very professional and supportive; the service delivery was on time all the time."

"The course service quality and support was excellent and will open door for everybody."

"It was a very wonderful experience, professional service delivery, very good quality and the support was tremendous."

What enables Oxbridge Academy to achieve this level of student satisfaction?

One of the main conclusions it can draw from its graduates' responses is that, above all, Oxbridge Academy's service delivery is impeccable. This is partly due to the general benefits of distance learning.

Distance learning colleges like Oxbridge Academy often operate without set semesters. For students, the benefit is obvious: they can enrol anytime of the year and finish their courses according to their own schedules. For the college, on the other hand, this means it does not get administratively bottlenecked - allowing it to deliver great service on an ongoing basis.

There are, however, many distance learning colleges that still deliver subpar services. So what makes Oxbridge Academy so different in this regard? Oxbridge Academy has always aimed to set itself apart by following a defined set of values:

* Integrity in everything it does; * Respect for all people; * Proactive behaviour; * Quality processes; and * Service-driven excellence.

Managing Director Barend van den Berg says: "Everyone lives those values in this organisation... And these values all, in my opinion, create the performance that we expect. Bringing the performance through in the company culture means that we have a very efficient and effective organisation."

To find out more about Oxbridge Academy, you can visit www.oxbridgeacademy.co.za, or call 021 1100 200.