This year’s National Student Survey, carried out for the Higher Education Funding Council for England, sees record levels of satisfaction for students across Britain, including Southampton.
86 percent of the UK’s final-year students who responded to the survey said they were satisfied overall with their course- up from 85% in 2013. Students are happiest with the standard of teaching, while least pleased with assessment and feedback (72% said they were content.) A mere 7% were dissatisfied overall with their course.
Students’ voices are heard through the NSS
Madeleine Atkins, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, said
[the NSS] has helped over two million students to make their voices heard about the things that matter to them, and has been fundamental to driving change in our universities and colleges.
Three universities, excluding those small and specialist, share the top place in this year’s NSS with a remarkable 93 percent approval rating: the University of Bath, Keele University and the University of St Andrews.
The highest-ranking higher education institution is London’s Courtauld Institute of Art, which gained an exceptional 100% approval rating from its students- up from 76% in 2013. Many other institutions of the capital did not perform so well, with Ravensbourne, the University of the Arts London and London Metropolitan University arriving in the lowest positions.
Oxford and Cambridge were joint eighth with a 91% student approval rating, together with the universities of Bangor, Coventry, Durham, Essex, Glasgow, Kent, Newcastle, Surrey, and the Open University.
Measuring student satisfaction since 2004
The University of Southampton scored a healthy 86 percent. Top universities, including University College London and Queen Mary University of London, achieved the same result amongst their students.
Minister for Universities and Science, Greg Clark, is delighted with the results. He added,
“It is vital that higher education institutions further enhance teaching quality and improve the experience they offer to students.”
321,000 final-year students from 156 higher education institutions, 166 further education colleges, and three private institutions responded to the annual NSS. This 71% response rate is the best the survey has experienced since it begun in 2004.
Apparently students in Britain are happier than ever with university life- is this the case for you? Let us know in the comments below!
Bit sad SUSU has dropped from 77% (2012) 74% (2013), adn now to 69% in NSS.. .
Reply