National Student Survey

The National Student Survey is a survey, launched in 2005, of all final year degree students at institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Participation is compulsory for institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not for those in Scotland. However a number of Scottish institutions participate voluntarily (3 in 2006, 7 in 2007), motivated by the use of NSS outcomes in unofficial newspaper league tables. NSS is conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the HEFCE. The survey is designed to assess students' opinions of the quality of their degree programmes, with seven different scores published including an "overall satisfaction" mark.

In the 2006 survey the institution with the highest satisfaction rating was the Open University. The next three institutions were the University of Buckingham, the University of St Andrews, and the Conservatoire of Dance and Drama.

Methodology

The survey is conducted by the polling company Ipsos MORI using contact details supplied by the universities. The results of the survey can be viewed on a new website launched in 2007 called www.unistats.com. This allows students to compare different subjects at different universities throughout the UK. The data on Unistats is updated annually. The survey comprises 22 questions divided into six areas, as well as another question asking participants about their overall satisfaction with their course. The questions take the form of statements to which participants are required to respond with a number from 1 to 5 depending on the level to which they agree. The following statements are included:

The teaching on my course

1. Staff are good at explaining things.
2. Staff have made the subject interesting.
3. Staff are enthusiastic about what they are teaching.
4. The course is intellectually stimulating.

Assessment and feedback

5. The criteria used in marking have been clear in advance.
6. Assessment arrangements and marking have been fair.
7. Feedback on my work has been prompt.
8. I have received detailed comments on my work.
9. Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand.

Academic support

10. I have received sufficient advice and support with my studies.
11. I have been able to contact staff when I needed to.
12. Good advice was available when I needed to make study choices.

Organisation and management

13. The timetable works efficiently as far as my activities are concerned.
14. Any changes in the course or teaching have been communicated effectively.
15. The course is well organised and is running smoothly.

Learning resources

16. The library resources and services are good enough for my needs.
17. I have been able to access general IT resources when I needed to.
18. I have been able to access specialised equipment, facilities or rooms when I needed to.

Personal development

19. The course has helped me to present myself with confidence.
20. My communication skills have improved.
21. As a result of the course, I feel confident in tackling unfamiliar problems.

(Source: [2])

Overall satisfaction

22. Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course (bold).

(Source: The national Student Survey 2008)

Controversy

The survey has faced criticism from the students' unions of a number of leading universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. In past years the student unions of Oxford, Cambridge and Warwick have encouraged their members to boycott the survey. As only those institutions that have a response rate of over 50% are included, all three of these universities have been excluded from past surveys. Criticism of the survey has been aimed at both its methodology and its content.

The most publicised boycott has been that of the Cambridge University Students' Union (CUSU), which has called the survey's methods "aggressive" and "intrusive" and accused those conducting it of harassment. Specifically CUSU has objected to the repeated attempts made by Ipsos MORI to contact students, with students who do not opt out being contacted by email and post and then phoned up to eight times (the previous cap was twelve).

The survey has also been attacked for the content of its questions, with CUSU claiming "The questions asked by the NSS remain over-simplistic to the point of meaninglessness. They are too simple and too broad to be useful for evaluating student experiences." The journalist John Clare, writing in the Daily Telegraph, claimed that the survey, in its originally proposed form, encouraged universities to "dumb down their intellectual demands" and said that it distorted the true purpose of university education.

A number of bodies, including the Commons Education Select Committee and the National Union of Students have responded to boycotts by accusing the students' unions of "elitism" and of encouraging exclusivity. Recently the University of Warwick Students' Union gave its support to the survey while Oxford University Students' Union, while still maintaining its opposition, agreed to provide information to its members about the survey and about how to opt out. This has left CUSU as the only student union actively opposing the survey.

In addition, there have been allegations of some universities (such as Kingston) advising students to artificially inflate the scores they give in the survey in the interest of improving the university's status in rankings derived from it. Following a full investigation of the allegations, the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) ordered that Kingston University's Department of Psychology be removed from the 2008-09 League Tables.

External links

• NSS Results website