Q1: Type of institution

Q1. What type is your institution?

There were more responses from FE and related post-16 providers than from HE.

3 of the institutions offer a mix of FE and HE; these were aggregated under FE. A total of 9 Sixth Form colleges and adult learning providers are also included in the FE numbers.

Figure 1. Types of institutions

Figure 1. Types of institutions

Q2: Appropriateness of sample

Q2. Do you have any of the following responsibilities in your institution?

To test the appropriateness of the sample to answering the questions in this survey, participants were asked to indicate whether they had responsibility for the areas touched upon by this study.

As shown in Figure 2 the vast majority of the respondents were involved in developing and implementing ICT policies, budgeting and software procurement. Other areas show lower involvement (especially in FE institutions). However personal involvement in the first four categories is most significant in terms of answering the questions in this survey and indicates that the participants are likely to be knowledgeable about the issues probed here.

Note also that the profile of respondents in the 2013 survey is very close to that of the 2010 survey, making it a good basis for comparison.

Figure 2. IT directors responsibilities

Figure 2. IT directors responsibilities

Q3: Number of ICT Staff

Q3. What is the approximate number of ICT staff at your institution? If your institution’s ICT provision is decentralised, please consider services provided centrally by your institution

The estimates of the number of ICT staff provided by the respondents suggest that a typical FE ICT department employs between 5 and 12 staff and that a typical ICT department in HE is larger: anywhere between 30 and 120 employees, with a median of 60. However, consistent with previous surveys the spread of estimates is very large, suggesting a potential need for a more precise measure of numbers of ICT staff than can be provided here.

Figure 3. Number of ICT staff in institutions

Figure 3. Number of ICT staff in institutions

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