How satisfied are our students? NSS 2013 results
Friday, 04 October 2013
The University of Reading has once again been ranked in the top 25% of higher education institutions in the UK for the quality of the student experience it provides.
Final year students who filled out the National Student Survey (NSS) rated their overall satisfaction at 89%. Programmes in the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science (SAGES) scored 100% satisfaction, with a further 18 departments being rated at 90% or above. Philosophy, Law and Mathematics and Statistics all achieved over 96%.
In terms of how our courses compare to other UK universities, Archaeology ranks as the top course of its kind, and Law, Philosophy, Maths and Stats, teacher training (Institute of Education), Management, Food, Typography and Clinical Language Sciences all came in the top 10.
This was the second year that student unions were rated in the survey and Reading University Students' Union (RUSU) has remained in the top 20 student unions in the country.
Head of SAGES Roberta Gilchrist said: "We're delighted to see these great results for the School, especially the Department of Archaeology who have received 100% satisfaction scores for the past four years. We are quite a small school so there is a real sense of community in our School and students consistently say that our staff are approachable and friendly. The students also really value the engagement they have with staff working on primary research projects, and the numerous field work opportunities on offer that help them get the most out of their time at Reading."
The NSS is a national initiative, conducted annually since 2005. The survey runs in the first quarter of the year across all publicly funded Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and participating HEIs in Scotland.
The survey asks final year students on undergraduate courses or equivalent to provide feedback on their courses in a nationally recognised format. Students are asked to indicate the extent to which they agree with a series of positive statements relating to the following aspects of the student learning experience: 69% of eligible Reading students contributed to the NSS this year compared to 68% in 2012.
The NSS results are made publicly available on the Unistats website (and on all university websites' course pages) to help prospective students make informed decisions of where and what to study. Institutions and student unions also use the data to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to help effect change and bring about enhancements to improve the student experience for future generations of students.