Information, Information, Information The Review of NSS and Unistats Kate Little Senior Project Officer National Union of Students @katelittle

What we will cover today An overview of the proposed changes to the National Student Survey and Unistats How students’ unions can respond to the consultation Discussion of the implications of the proposed removal of Question 23 for students’ unions Next steps – working on a bank of optional questions on the SU

The review of NSS and Unistats

Background The four UK HE funding councils have been undertaking a review of the provision of information in HE for 2 years Overseen by HEPISG – NUS has a seat NSS: Extensive literature review and consultation published July 2014 Proposals tested in cognitive testing and pilot survey autumn 2014-spring 2015 Findings and recommendations published for consultation October 2015 Deadline for responses: 4th December

Key recommendations Unistats Maintain and develop a UK website of authoritative national data for students, their advisers and other stakeholders (currently Unistats). Redesign Unistats to reflect diverse student information needs. Transfer publication of learning, teaching and assessment information to institutions. Provide more help for students to navigate information during their decision-making journey. Need for a “strong brand” – Unistats and/or KIS may or may not be retained. More contextualisation and explanation of what the data can and cannot tell students, and a design that helps students know what information to look for at each stage of the application process. Particular attention is being paid to diverse groups e.g. mature, part time, first in the family. Removal of TLA information based on feedback that there is a need for context and nuance that can only be provided by each institution – the current KIS indicators are not helpful to students.

Key recommendations Information published by institutions Ask institutions to publish detailed course information in line with Competitions and Markets Authority guidance. (NB includes publication of additional course costs) Provide good practice developed with sector experts to support consistent but nuanced presentation of information.

Key recommendations NSS Apply criteria for questions in main survey. Include new questions on student engagement. Amend questions on Learning Resources and on Assessment and Feedback. Merge duplicative questions. Transfer personal development and student union questions to optional banks. Bring optional questions up to date.

Post-2017 Consider ways of publishing qualitative feedback from students about their course – possibly NSS comments Consider ways of gathering feedback from students not currently covered by the NSS Consider the need for a published survey of postgraduate taught student feedback

NSS review: recommendations in more depth

The student engagement questions Nine new questions proposed Student engagement defined as: “students’ experience of interest and belonging, their involvement in shaping their learning and how they approach their studies such that it promotes a ‘deep approach to learning’”. Three potential new banks (may appear in other sections of the survey): Academic challenge and integrative learning The learning community and collaborative learning The student voice

Academic challenge questions My course has challenged me to achieve my best work My course has provided me with opportunities to explore ideas or concepts in depth My course has provided me with opportunities to bring information and ideas together from different topics My course has provided me with opportunities to apply what I have learnt

Student voice questions I have had the right opportunities to provide feedback on my course Staff value students’ views and opinions about the course It is clear how students’ feedback on the course has been acted on

Learning community questions I have had the right opportunities to work with other students as part of my course The learning community and collaborative learning I feel part of a community of staff and students

What do you think? Academic challenge Student voice Learning community My course has challenged me to achieve my best work I have had the right opportunities to provide feedback on my course I have had the right opportunities to work with other students as part of my course My course has provided me with opportunities to explore ideas or concepts in depth Staff value students’ views and opinions about the course The learning community and collaborative learning I feel part of a community of staff and students My course has provided me with opportunities to bring information and ideas together from different topics It is clear how students’ feedback on the course has been acted on My course has provided me with opportunities to apply what I have learnt What do you think? In three groups: what do they think of the topic? Do the questions measure the right things? Does the wording make sense? Is there anything missing?

Minor wording changes Learning resources questions shifted to focus on support for learning, and to include online resources in the library question Feedback: Prompt  timely Detailed  helpful

Removing duplicates Q2: Staff have made the subject interesting (retain) Q3: Staff are enthusiastic about what they are teaching (remove) Q6: Marking and assessment have been fair (retain) Q5: The criteria used in marking have been clear in advance (remove) Q8: I have received helpful comments on my work (retain, replacing ‘detailed’ with ‘helpful’) Q9 Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand. (remove) Add that timetabling and general course organisation were also proposed for removal but NUS fought this and the timetabling question remains. Allow a quick discussion of these pairs, and emphasise that NUS will be asking for both Q5 and Q6 to remain as they ask very different things, and both are important to students’ experiences of assessment.

Any questions so far?

The question of Question 23

Proposals for the students’ union question Proposed for removal from the core questionnaire Proposed that NUS work with the funding councils to develop an optional bank of questions on the students’ union Proposed that all optional banks be jointly agreed between institution and SU – a strengthening of the existing guidance requiring “consultation”

What work has NUS done? Our NSS consultation in autumn 2013 indicated widespread dissatisfaction with the current wording amongst students’ unions Tested alternative questions in spring 2014 – a matrix style question was most popular Consultation throughout late 2014 and early 2015 at staff and officer facing events indicated support for a core question on representation Proposed several alternative questions for cognitive testing and worked to ensure the researchers fully understood what we wanted to know

Why are they proposing removal? Current Q23 does not meet the criterion that all core questions must “concern the academic experience, and especially learning and teaching” Tested alternative questions on representation and SU impact on the academic experience showed that students did not associate the SU with academic life – and “therefore responses do not match the intention of the question.” Research for Unistats shows prospective students “do not view the student union as a priority for their decisions about study; when this is of interest, they are likely to be considering the wider social aspects of the student union role.”

What would this mean for SUs? No longer a published score for students’ unions in the NSS or KIS Opportunity for more questions about SUs in an optional bank to give more granular information BUT not published and lower response rate Questions of data sharing between unions would need to be raised with the funding councils (data owners)

Questions What would the impact of removing Q23 be for your union? What types of questions would be helpful to include in an optional bank? Would you share your data with other unions/NUS? Discuss in groups and feed back

More information…. http://www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/roiconsult/ PLEASE do respond to the consultation: deadline 4th December at noon If you have questions or need help with your response, contact nss@nus.org.uk Thanks for listening…