Despite protests, students are happy with University
According to the National Student Survey commissioned by HEFCE 83% of students graduating are satisfied with their course.
In the wake of student protests, displays of social unrest and questions about the future of young people, universities seem to be weathering the storm. According to the National Student Survey conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by HEFCE 83% of students graduating are satisfied with their course.
Whether higher tuition fees will affect future surveys remains to be seen, but amongst today’s graduates only 9% were dissatisfied with their course and all categories saw satisfaction levels improve or match their 2010 level.
The news was good for lecturers too, as almost 4 in 5 students said they were satisfied with the academic support they received and 84% happy with the teaching.
This year’s NSS surveyed over a quarter of a million students representing 65% of final year undergraduates, the largest in 7 years. With university becoming a rite of passage, the NSS can only grow in importance as a crucial barometer for university performance and informing student choices. Sami Benyahia, NSS Director at Ipsos, said:
“A degree is now more important than ever in widening career opportunities. Tuition fees have yet to stem the appetite for higher education and at the moment students appear satisfied with the quality of their course. Faced with a multitude of options, institutions and teaching styles, the NSS allows students to make genuine choices and compare universities on the issues that matter to them. For universities it allows them to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and hopefully improve education standards and attract more students.” ENDS For more information, please contact: Sami Benyahia, NSS Director [email protected] +44 (0)20 8861 8148
The National Student Survey is an annual survey conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by HEFCE on behalf of the other funding bodies. These figures come from the latest survey of around 267,000 university final year undergraduates around the UK in 2011. A summary of results is shown in a table below. More details are available on our website www.ipsos-mori.com/nss or on the Unistats web-site (www.unistats.com) which gives data on all students in the survey.
2010/2011 National Student Survey results for the UK
| Questions | 2010 NSS | 2011 NSS | |||||
| Satisfied | Neither sat. nor dissat. | Dissatisfied | Satisfied | Neither sat. nor diissat. | Dissatisfied | ||
| 1-4 | The teaching
on my course |
83% | 10% | 6% | 84% | 10% | 6% |
| 5-9 | Assessment and feedback | 66% | 16% | 17% | 68% | 16% | 16% |
| 10-12 | Academic support | 75% | 14% | 11% | 77% | 13% | 10% |
| 13-15 | Organisation and management | 73% | 13% | 14% | 75% | 12% | 13% |
| 16-18 | Learning resources | 80% | 11% | 10% | 80% | 11% | 9% |
| 19-21 | Personal development | 79% | 15% | 6% | 80% | 14% | 6% |
| 22 | Overall satisfaction | 82% | 9% | 9% | 83% | 8% | 9% |
Percentages may not sum due to rounding.
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