NSS 2010 shows continued high levels of satisfaction among higher education undergraduate students

18 August 2010

The overall satisfaction rate for students studying at all types of higher education institution (HEI) and at further education colleges (FECs) in England remains high, with 82 per cent saying they are satisfied with their course in this year's National Student Survey (NSS).

This year more students than ever were able to take part (Note 1) in the survey run by Ipsos MORI. Around 252,000 students responded – that is 30,000 more than last year.

The overall response rate this year was 63.1 per cent. A total of 152 HEIs and 113 FECs from across the UK took part in the survey (Note 3).

2010 National Student Survey results for students in England

Questions		2009 NSS	2010 NSS
		% satisfied	% satisfied
1-4	The teaching on my course	83	83
5-9	Assessment and feedback	65	67
10-12	Academic support	74	75
13-15	Organisation and management	72	73
16-18	Learning resources	80	79
29-21	Personal development	79	79
22	Overall satisfaction	81	82

The figures in the table are for students registered at HEIs and FECs in England.

The Unistats web-site gives data on all students in the survey and the latest data is available to view from today. It covers higher education students in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and 12 Scottish universities, and students on higher education courses at FECs. Responses from some students on initial teacher training courses and NHS-funded courses are also available.

HEFCE Chief Executive, Sir Alan Langlands, said:

'These excellent results demonstrate that our universities and colleges provide a high-quality experience for their students. The survey provides vital information to inform young people's choices and helps universities and colleges maintain learning and teaching that meets their students' needs. Each university takes these results seriously and acts upon them.'

Professor Janet Beer, chair of the NSS steering group and Vice-Chancellor, Oxford Brookes University, said:

'Greater numbers of students than ever before are reporting high levels of satisfaction with the quality of learning and teaching in higher education. Maintaining the momentum in enhancing the student experience is dependent upon partnership between university staff and students and the NSS is a vital tool in ensuring that collaborative working continues to produce improvement.'

Professor Craig Mahoney, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Academy, said:

'The continued high levels of satisfaction demonstrate the great work that institutions are doing to deliver high quality teaching to students. As the sector body responsible for the enhancement of learning and teaching in higher education in the UK, we support them in their work. We look forward to working ever more closely with institutions and individual academics to continue to improve the experience of students in the UK.'

Notes

An additional 30,000 students were included in the survey in 2010. The increase relates to an increase in the number of students in higher education and the inclusion of more students on flexible programmes.
The threshold for publication is that at least 23 students must have responded at each institution, and that these represent at least half the students eligible to participate.
The NSS covers nearly all final-year undergraduates studying for higher education qualifications at HEIs and FECs in England, HEIs in Wales and Northern Ireland, 12 institutions in Scotland, and the independent University of Buckingham. Students on initial teacher training courses funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools, and students studying NHS-funded subjects are also included.
The percentages used in the table relate to students registered with English HEIs and FECs, including the Open University.
The NSS results are available on www.unistats.com from 18 August 2010 and will be useful to prospective students, their families and advisors. Unistats is developed and maintained by UCAS and Hotcourses.
The Higher Education Academy's NSS role is to work with departments and institutions in using the NSS constructively for the enhancement of the student experience. Over the last few years the Academy has undertaken a broad range of work in this area including research, an NSS institutional working group, an annual surveys conference and disciplinary-based support via the subject centres.
Recent work commissioned by HEFCE 'Enhancing and developing the National Student Survey' noted in recommendation 5 that the NSS results cannot be used responsibly to 'compare whole institutions without taking account of sources of variation such as subject mix and student characteristics'. In responding to this recommendation this will be the last year that HEFCE presents the whole institution results table. In the future we will publish data on Q22 alongside sector adjusted benchmarks which take into account the factors we know to affect the results.
Summary data from the survey and results from question 22 are available on the HEFCE web-site.

Page last updated 20 January 2012