Students share their opinions in the National Student Survey

Wednesday, 09 August 2017

The views of over 1,600 final year students have been revealed today following publication of the 2017 National Student Survey (NSS).

Each year, the NSS provides us with the most comprehensive, independent and full picture of what our final year students think about their time at Reading – what works here and what needs to improve.

Overall satisfaction across the University remains strong, with our 2017 score matching the sector average at 84%.

Satisfaction also continues to perform well at discipline level, with eight areas achieving a satisfaction score of 90% or above including Meteorology (100%), Agriculture (91%), Archaeology (94%), Education (90%), Food & Nutritional Sciences (93%), Mathematics & Statistics (94%), Pharmacy (91%), and Philosophy (94%).

Finalists also commended teaching staff for being good at explaining things (87%), they have had opportunities to work with other students as part of their course and they have been able to contact staff when they needed to.

Professor Gavin Brooks, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching & Learning at the University of Reading, said:

“Students are right to have high expectations of their university.

“Of the 1,600 students that completed the survey, 84% said they were satisfied with Reading – this is a solid result, and in line with the sector average in what has been an atypical year for Higher Education.

“It is pleasing to see that a number of our departments have achieved a satisfaction rating of over 90% – of course we want to raise satisfaction across the board and will be reviewing the latest survey results in more detail.

“Several of the themes raised in feedback this year align with areas we are already working to improve – the Electronic Management of Assessment Programme, for instance, will improve the delivery of feedback on assessed work to students and we will be piloting new procedures in two Schools in the autumn term. Another example is our ambitious capital investment programme 2026: TRANSFORM, which will improve the provision of key facilities such as study space and teaching and learning resources.

“We are extremely grateful to all final year students who took the time to complete the NSS, and we look forward to using their feedback to help make Reading even better.”

Key findings:

Eight departments achieved a satisfaction score of 90% or above, with Meteorology achieving 100%. Other departments included: Agriculture (91%), Archaeology (94%), Education (90%), Food & Nutritional Sciences (93%), Mathematics & Statistics (94%), Pharmacy (91%), and Philosophy (94%).
78% students feel part of a Learning Community at Reading – above the sector average of 77%.
Reading scored 75% for Organisation & Management – in line with the sector average.

Several changes were made to the wording, structure and methodology of the Survey this year and, as a result, the UK Student Information Advisory Group and funding bodies have agreed that the 2017 data is not comparable to results from previous surveys and have advised that such comparisons should not be undertaken.

Full survey statistics are publically available at HEFCE.

Next steps

We are extremely grateful to all finalists who took the time to complete the Survey – for us, engaging with students and acting on meaningful feedback is much more important than any other factor.

Data from the NSS and other recent student surveys such as the UK Engagement Survey (UKES) will now be analysed in detail, including data supplied internally for departments that did not reach the results publication threshold. An action plan will be announced later in the autumn that will help address key areas of feedback for 2017/18 and beyond. We aim to keep our student community updated with progress and hope to demonstrate clear steps taken to act on student feedback.