What surveys and interviews tell us

Since the first offering of our Bachelor of Engineering degree (BE) at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) in 2007 we have had consistently poor pass rates for first year students. At VUW we have collected survey information since 2010. While these surveys have provided excellent information they do not provide sufficient depth of information for us to fully understand the problems facing first year students. Since 2012 pastoral care interviews have greatly enhanced our understanding of the student experience. This paper discusses the findings of the surveys, the creation of our pastoral care system and findings from pastoral care interviews.