The University participates in a number of 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.

What national surveys are run?

The University currently participates in:

National Student Survey

The NSS is a national survey of third-year 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 their satisfaction against a set of 27 statements in the following themes:

• The teaching on my course
• Learning opportunities
• Assessment and feedback
• Academic support
• Organisation and management
• Learning resources
• Learning community (section introduced in 2017)
• Student voice (section introduced in 2017)
• Overall satisfaction

The University can ask up to 6 sets of additional questions from a central bank of 12 question sets. It can also include two institution-specific questions. There is also a free-text section for respondents.  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).  

The Office for Students is currently consulting on the future of the NSS.

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.