The National Student Survey (NSS) Penny Jones, Strategic Planning Office Tracy Goslar and Miles Willey, Academic Standards & Partnership Wednesday 16 March 2011 (Moulsecoomb) Friday 18 March 2011 (Eastbourne)

NSS began in 2005 and is a key element in the Quality Assurance Framework The QAF, which also includes institutional audit, is the means by which HEFCE meets its legal obligations for ensuring the quality of publicly funded higher education. NSS was and remains a key element in the commitment to provide public information about quality and standards of publicly funded higher education ( The National Student Survey (NSS)

NSS is becoming increasingly integrated into the national quality assurance system, as evidenced by plans to further develop and enhance the survey Student feedback from the NSS is considered alongside other student evaluation as a central aspect of the University’s annual Academic Health process Nationally, the student experience is viewed as a central pillar of quality assurance systems Integration of the NSS into quality assurance systems

22 questions 5 point scale – Definitely agree to definitely disagree 6 main sections, Questions The teaching on my course 2. Assessment and feedback 3. Academic support 4. Organisation and Management 5. Learning resources 6. Personal Development Question 22 – overall satisfaction Additional questions Comments The survey

The survey is anonymous To receive published results for the NSS, the University must receive a response rate of at least 50% Results at course level are available for internal use only where 10 or more respondents complete the survey Responses below the threshold of 10 are published at the JACS subject level on the Unistats website Publication of response rates

Samples not representative Comparisons or ranking of whole institutions in league tables institutions fall within narrow range covered by sampling error Subject mix in different institutions Students expectations different Opinion not truth Easy to manipulate UNISTATS Why we don’t like the NSS - survey criticisms

Free market research! Important tool to improve student experience and highlight broad areas where there are issues, rather than ranking tool Use free text comments to contextualise figures Work in conjunction with SU and course reps to check what is real Use alongside internal evaluation - modules etc. Benchmarking against sector Issues discussed in report to HEFCE ‘Enhancing and Developing the NSS’ Why we do like the NSS...

Staffcentral link: NSS website: General enquiries: Tracy Goslar (Academic Standards & Partnership) – Analysis of response rates and results: Penny Jones (Strategic Planning Office) – ext 2052 Marketing materials: Susan Lightfoot (Marketing & Communications) – ext 2221 Useful contacts

Response Rates 2011 Trends and demographics 2006 to 2010 Further Analysis Numbers!

2010 First time UoB response rate higher than sector! Response Rates 74% more respondents than 2006

Response Rates 2011 – versus previous years

Response Rates 2011 – versus the sector

Trends Mode Gender Domicile Age Ethnicity Level Disability NHS Look at the optional set of questions Presentation of Trends National Student Survey Findings and Trends 2006 to 2009 (HEFCE 2010/18)

Mode – Full time and Part Time ‘...the profile of satisfaction scores for those on part-time courses was significantly different to that of those studying on full-time courses. The question categories with the largest differences were Assessment and feedback, where part-time students were more satisfied, and Learning resources and Personal development, where part- time students were less satisfied.’ (HEFCE 2010)

Gender ‘While Overall satisfaction of female and male students was similar to the global score significant differences were observed in other categories, most notably for Academic support and Learning resources.’ (HEFCE 2010)

Domicile ‘Students from the EU and international students were significantly less satisfied with Teaching and learning than students from the UK. For Assessment and feedback, students from the EU were significantly less satisfied and international students were significantly more satisfied than the global score.’(HEFCE 2010)

Age ‘...students in the age groups and over 25 were significantly less satisfied than students aged under 21, in the questions on Academic support, Organisation and management, Learning resources and Overall satisfaction. However, students aged over 25 were significantly more satisfied than the global score for the category Assessment and feedback.’ (HEFCE 2010)

Ethnicity ‘S atisfaction profiles varied significantly depending on students’ ethnic background. However, the only question category where all the differences in satisfaction score were significant was Teaching and learning; where students from a White ethnic background were more satisfied than the global score and students from all minority ethnic backgrounds were significantly less satisfied than the global score. Similar trends were seen in the question categories Academic support, Learning resources and Overall satisfaction. However, the results were not all of statistical significance, and the analysis does not take into account additional factors such as subject area or institution which may also affect scores Minority ethnic groups in this context are defined to be students from Asian, Black, Chinese, Mixed or Other ethnic backgrounds.

Level of Study ‘The largest differences from the global score for respondents studying for foundation degrees and other qualifications are for question categories Assessment and feedback, where they are more satisfied than first degree students, and Organisation and management, where they are less satisfied.’ (HEFCE 2010)

Disability ‘Disabled students were significantly less satisfied than the global scores in five of the seven question categories (see Figure 12). The question categories with the lowest satisfaction scores were Organisation and management and Overall satisfaction. ‘ (HEFCE 2010)

NHS Funded Students ‘the profile of satisfaction scores for NHS-funded students was significantly different to that of non-NHS funded students. The question categories with the largest differences were Organisation and management, where NHS-funded students were less satisfied, and Personal development, where NHS-funded students were more satisfied.’ (HEFCE 2010)

Optional Questions

Turn the presentation into a more detailed paper – or wait to next year and do a copy of the HEFCE Satisfaction by Campus Partner Colleges – report available from SPO Further Analysis

 HEFCE Publication - National Student Survey Findings and Trends 2006 to  Literature