National Student Survey

This year the National Student Survey (NSS) is being launched at the University of Bath on Monday 8th February. The NSS is an annual survey which started in 2005 and is carried out at all universities in the UK on behalf of the National Union of Students (NUS). The survey, which is exclusively for final year undergraduates, is an opportunity to give feedback on the good and bad aspects of degree courses.

The NSS covers all aspects of courses, including learning and teaching, assessment and feedback, academic support, and overall satisfaction. The results will be made available on Unistats.com to enable prospective students to make an informed choice about where they want to study, and are also used by the University and the Students’ Union to improve the quality of the student experience. Departments with low student satisfaction scores are asked to draw up action plans on how they will improve their scores. This is usually done with input from academic reps at Student/Staff Liaison Committee meetings. NSS results inform various university league tables. In order for a university to perform well in league tables it helps to have a high level of student satisfaction. Consequentially NSS results are taken seriously, and to have a breadth of student feedback through this is important for the University.

Previous NSS feedback has led to improved rules on how Student/Staff Liaison Committees are run to strengthen the ‘Student Voice’. An annual report has been introduced, written by the Students’ Union, summarising the key academic issues from across these committees so that the University and Union can deal with the issues and concerns raised by students. The personal tutorial system has been reviewed to enhance the support given to students on taught programmes, both academically and personally, through a personalised point of contact with the University. The new system will assist new students with the transition to university life.