University-wide surveys

The University participates in nationally-benchmarked surveys, in order to encourage positive changes to its provision and to continually enhance the student experience.  Any concerns identified through the surveys' results are referred to the relevant Schools, Departments or Faculties, and subsequently to the appropriate General Board Committee (with student representation), for consideration.  

In addition to national surveys, students are surveyed by their course or Department, to obtain a full picture of their experience.

National Student Survey

The NSS is a national survey of final year undergraduate students which has been run annually since 2005 and is administered by an external body, Ipsos MORI.  Students are asked to rate their overall satisfaction with the quality of their course and the overall student experience. In 2023 the Office for Students revised the survey which now asks 27 main questions in the following themes:

  • Teaching on my course
  • Learning opportunities
  • Assessment and feedback
  • Academic support
  • Organisation and management
  • Learning resources
  • Student voice
  • Student Union
  • Mental wellbeing services
  • Freedom of expression

There is an optional free text question: Looking back on the experience, are there any particularly positive or negative aspects you would like to highlight? 

Healthcare students are also asked an additional six questions concerning their placement and there are banks of optional questions institutions may ask their students. Cambridge asked  two institution-specific questions concerning college supervision and support. 

All responses are anonymised and cannot be published unless the institution reaches a publication threshold (50% participation overall and a minimum of 10 respondents per cohort).  

Cambridge NSS 2025 response rate was 59.4% Analysis of the data at department and college level may be found on Tableau and high level information may be found here

Postgraduate Teaching Experience Survey

The PTES was run until 2017, at which point it was replaced by the Student Barometer survey.  In 2021, the General Board's Education Committee agreed to revert back to PTES in lieu of the Barometer, and to run PTES from spring 2022.  PTES is made available by Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) to all Higher Education Institutions across the UK and is designed to help institutions enhance the quality of taught postgraduate (PGT) degree provision by collecting feedback from current students in a systematic and user-friendly way.

The online survey invites students to rate their satisfaction levels and provide comments in the following areas:

  • Dissertation/Major Project
  • Resources
  • Assessment and Feedback
  • Teaching and Learning
  • Organisation and Management
  • Engagement
  • Support
  • Skills development

The University can also ask an unlimited number of institution-specific questions.

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey

The PRES was run until 2017, at which point it was replaced by the Student Barometer survey.  In 2021, the General Board's Education Committee agreed to revert back to PRES in lieu of the Barometer, and to run PRES from spring 2022.  Like PTES, PRES is provided by Advance HE and uses the same methodology. 

Students are asked to rate their overall satisfaction with the quality of their course, how well elements of it have met their expectations, and their satisfaction within the following themes:

  • Supervisions
  • Resources
  • Research Culture
  • Progress and Assessment
  • Responsibilities
  • Research Skills
  • Professional Development Opportunities
  • Overall Satisfaction

The University can also ask an unlimited number of institution-specific questions.

Where can I get results? 

All results from national surveys are available to University members via the Information Hub.  They are presented via Tableau, which enables easier analysis of results.  For more information and access to Tableau, visit the Information Hub website.