Student Voice – National Student Survey

The National Student Survey 2012 went live at Sunderland today (23 January).

What is the survey?

It is conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce). Universities in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some in Scotland take part in the survey.

All final year students (not only third year as some courses are four year and final year foundation degree students are included) are asked to complete the survey.

Student feedback on six key areas of the academic experience is recorded;

  * Teaching on my course
  * Assessment and Feedback
  * Academic Support
  * Organisation and Management
  * Learning Resources
  * Personal Development

Students are also asked to gauge their overall satisfaction with their academic experience.

The survey takes the form of an online questionnaire and the scoring is from 1 to 5, with 1 being not at all satisfied and 5 being very satisfied.

The problem will the scoring scale used is that 3 means neither satisfied or dissatisfied, but this tells the University nothing about the experience students may be having.  If you are completing the survey it would be better to give a definite view by choosing more positively either way (by choosing to score 2 or 4) so that it would give the University and potential students a clearer picture of what you think.

What are the results used for?

Since the survey was introduced, the University’s results, in the main, have improved year on year (as shown by the response rate above).

The results are used by everyone from UCAS and Unistats to the Guardian and Push Guide and potential students and parents can assess them to help them choose a university.

Potential students and parents can use them to help them make informed choices about choosing which university to go to.

The University will use them to identify areas for improvement, enabling them to take action where needed and enabling them to offer one of the best experiences in HE

The Students’ Union will use them to help improve students’ experience at the University.