Every element of the public sector had to respond dramatically to the COVID-19 pandemic – and Further and Higher Education was no exception.
Lockdown restrictions enforced a sudden, widespread adoption of digital teaching and learning that will probably reshape the sector forever. The speed and all-encompassing nature of the changes in the early stages of the pandemic undoubtedly meant difficulties for many staff and students.
Communication with students has been arguably the essential element of the sector’s COVID-19 response, from providing learning to helping students understand what the restrictions mean for their education experience. The unprecedented nature of the changes has meant that the sector has experienced a much higher volume of contact from students and parents than before. At the same time, these changes have occurred against an ongoing process of technological advancements and changes in customer service in the private sector that affect the ways students expect to be able to contact Education institutions – and the level of ‘customer service’ they receive.
The ways in which citizens’ interactions with the public sector have changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how public sector organisations have changed in their responses, are the key focus of the ‘Experience as a Service’ survey 2021, produced by GovNewsDirect in partnership with Genesys. In this supplement to the ‘Experience as a Service’ survey 2021 report, we examine the survey responses specifically from workers in Further and Higher Education, and examine the key issues the findings highlight for those working in the sector.
