National Student Survey results
The results of the 2022 National Student Survey (NSS) have been published.
The percentage of University of Leeds final year respondents stating that, overall, they were satisfied with the quality of their course, fell to 69% from 76% last year.
Leeds respondents’ score for satisfaction with teaching on their course was also down, to 77% from 82%.
Professor Jeff Grabill, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Student Education, said: “The Vice-Chancellor and I have been clear that such results are not the only measure of our effectiveness, nor are they necessarily the best measure, but they do provide us with useful indicators of where we have work to do on the quality of the educational experience at Leeds. We will, of course, listen to what students are telling us through this survey.
“In particular, we need to build stronger relationships with them, leaving our students in no doubt that we care about them, their goals, and their dreams. We also need to provide effective formative feedback to support their learning, and to actively engage with them more – inside and outside the classroom.”
He added: “The work of educational change is the core work of the institution. These results simply reinforce what we knew, and we must reinforce our commitment to that work.
“That’s why we have invested time and energy into Curriculum Redefined. There should be no doubt as to the importance of that work.”
Curriculum Redefined is the University-wide review of all undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes, providing the opportunity to adopt active and inclusive approaches to learning and teaching.
Professor Simone Buitendijk, Vice-Chancellor, said: “Transforming learning and teaching is a key pillar of our 10 year strategy. The latest NSS results illustrate the need for that transformation.
“We have a plan to address this, supported by a huge investment in student education – to the tune of £10m a year – with the Curriculum Redefined programme, one of the biggest and most ambitious change programmes in higher education, as the centrepiece.
“The benefits of Curriculum Redefined will be significant but will take time to come on stream. In the meantime, we will continue to work with a wide range of colleagues, including the LUU Executive, to identify areas where we can more quickly deliver positive change to benefit our students.”
For the 2022 National Student Survey, 325,000 students at 382 higher education providers across the UK took part in the survey, which ran from 6 January until 30 April.
The survey asks students about a range of factors related to their academic experience, including the teaching on their course, assessment and feedback, and how well courses were organised.
There was an increased score given by final year Leeds students for satisfaction with learning resources at the University – up nine percentage points to a rating of 80% this year.
And satisfaction with Leeds University Union’s ability to effectively represent students’ academic interests scored relatively highly, giving Leeds the tenth-highest rating among the Russell Group of research-intensive universities represented in this year’s survey.
Susan Lapworth, interim chief executive of the Office for Students, said: “This year’s graduates bore the brunt of the pandemic, with much of their time at university affected by lockdowns and other restrictions on student life.
“The NSS has played an important role in capturing students’ views during this extraordinarily difficult time for students and university staff. This year’s results show that there is still more to do if students’ views of the quality of their course are to improve to pre-pandemic levels.
“This should be an immediate priority for many universities and colleges.”
The national survey response rate this year remained at 69%. The full results are available on the Office for Students website.
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