Teaching Quality Information: outcomes and publication of the 2008 National Student Survey results

To:

Heads of HEFCE-funded further education colleges, Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions, Heads of universities in Northern Ireland

Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal

1.   This letter provides information to institutions on how to access their 2008 National Student Survey (NSS) results via the Unistats web-site, including previewing these results. It also details plans for the re-launch of the Ipsos MORI Dissemination web-site, which provides more detailed results to institutions and student unions.

2.   The NSS forms part of our revised Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) and 2008 is its fourth year. For the first time this year it incorporated students studying higher education (HE) courses in further education colleges (FECs).

3.   This year's NSS received another positive endorsement from students, with an overall response rate of 65 per cent (65 per cent for higher education institutions (HEIs) and 57 per cent for FECs) and an overall satisfaction level of 82 per cent (83 per cent for HEIs and 78 per cent for FECs). We are encouraged by this achievement; with the inclusion of FECs even more information will be available this year.

4.   This continued high response rate will support potential students as they make choices about what and where to study. It also provides valuable management information to institutions to enable improvements in the student experience. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have worked to make this possible.

Publication of the 2008 results

5.   During 2006 UCAS (the admissions service for universities and colleges) was appointed to redevelop the then Teaching Quality Information (TQI) web-site to make it more user-focused, following the outcomes of a review of the QAF ('Review of the Quality Assurance Framework: phase two outcomes', HEFCE 2006/45). Following this the Unistats web-site was launched in November 2007.

6.   Since the launch of Unistats, UCAS has continued to undertake user testing to ensure that it remains fit for its primary purpose: to inform students and their advisers about what and where to study. The site has continued to develop, with new features being added to ensure that it continues to meet this objective. More details on how to preview the 2008 NSS results via the Unistats site are available at Annex A.

7.   Earlier this year we reappointed Ipsos MORI to continue to maintain and develop the NSS Dissemination web-site. This is an important site because it enables the identification of areas of good practice and improvement which will enhance the learning experience for future students. We welcome the changes that Ipsos MORI is implementing on the site, following feedback from users, to make it more user-friendly and from this year it will be renamed the NSS Results web-site. More details about when the redeveloped site will be launched are available at Annex A.

Inappropriate attempts to influence the NSS results

8.   We have received six allegations that institutions or staff members within institutions sought to influence the outcomes of the 2008 NSS. We take such allegations seriously because we need to ensure that the integrity, validity, and reliability of the NSS is maintained, given that it forms one of the key elements of the lighter-touch QAF that replaced subject review.

9.   In one of these cases, Kingston University, we have received unequivocal evidence that an inappropriate attempt to influence the outcomes of the 2008 NSS took place within the subject area of psychology. We have therefore taken the decision that these data will not be published because the integrity of the data has therefore been called into question. We have investigated the other five cases and have not found or received sufficient unequivocal evidence of inappropriate attempts to influence the results and have therefore decided to publish these results.

10.   For the 2009 survey we will be providing strengthened guidance to institutions and student unions to make it clear that, although it is appropriate to remind students that they should complete the NSS and that they should consider their response carefully, making an explicit link between the NSS, league tables and the perceived value of students' degrees is not acceptable. The guidance will also outline that, where we receive unequivocal evidence that such inappropriate attempts to influence student responses or the results have taken place, we will take action which may include deciding not to publish the results whose validity and reliability has been called into question. We will write to institutions later this year with further details and Ipsos MORI will issue this guidance prior to the 2009 survey.

Plans for the 2009 NSS

11.   In 2009 the NSS will be repeated in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some institutions in Scotland, in collaboration with the National Union of Students. The survey will operate in the same way as the 2008 survey. We will write to institutions later this year with further details. Ipsos MORI has a contact database for the purposes of the NSS; if you are not the contact and should be, please e-mail nss@ipsos-mori.com.

Plans to extend the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey

12.   During 2009 we will be extending the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey to students who are studying HE courses in FECs. The results will be published on the Unistats site in the same way that the DLHE results for HEIs are presented. This will further increase the amount of information available to potential students on the Unistats site and we will write to institutions later this year with further details.

13.   If you have any queries about anything in this letter please contact Chris Taylor on 0117 931 7264 or c.taylor@hefce.ac.uk.

Professor David Eastwood
Chief Executive

Share this:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

---