Key messages for NSS 2014

  • The College’s Overall Satisfaction remains at 87% in 2014. This is 1% above the sector average.
  • The College was ranked 61st in the sector for Overall Satisfaction out of 157 Higher Education Institutions. (Ranking excludes Further Education Colleges and Alternative Providers)
  • Percentage satisfaction increases for Academic Support to 82% (+3%) and Assessment and Feedback to 67% (+1%) from 2013.
  • Percentage satisfaction decreases for both Organisation and Management, and the Students' Union by 2%, to 81% and 75% respectively, from 2013.
  • The College increases its Overall Satisfaction in seven NSS subjects from 2013, the greatest increases being in Medicine (+7% to 90%) and Mathematics and Statistics (+6% to 89%).
  • The College had a higher level of Overall Satisfaction than the sector average in 10 NSS subjects.
  • The overall College response rate was 84% (+3% on 2013) with 1741 respondents. 

Institutional level results

Question category results

The College improved its results in the NSS question categories Assesment and Feedback and Academic Support, maintaining the upward trend from 2011 to 2013. The College maintained its results in Teaching, Learning Resources, and Personal Development.

Graph showing College NSS results for 2011 to 2014

 

This graph shows the percentage agree for the years 2011-2014 in the eight question categories.  The Students' Union was a new category for 2012.

 

Graph showing the College's NSS 2014 results

 

 

This graph shows the results for the NSS question categories in 2014 broken down by the five possible responses to questions (Strongly Agree, Slightly Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagree, Slightly Disagree, Strongly Disagree).  The percentage agree is the proportion of respondents answering Strongly Agree or Slightly Agree to a question.

 

Individual questions

The table below shows the 2014 results for the College for each NSS question, with the change in percentage satisfaction from the previous two surveys.  In 2014 the College had a higher percentange satisfaction than 2013 for 10 out of 23 questions.  Percentage satisfaction for the Overall Satisfaction remained at 87% for 2014.

College NSS 2014 Results by question
NSS Question% Agree in 2014Change since 2013Change since 2012
 Teaching  88  0  +2
 Staff are good at explaining things  91  +1  +2
 Staff have made the subject interesting  83  +1  +3
 Staff are enthusiastic about what they are teaching  88  0  +2
 The course is intellectually stimulating  92  +1  +2
 Assessment and Feedback  67  +1  +5
 The criteria used in marking have been clear in advance  77  +2  +9
 Assessment arrangements and marking have been fair  78  +1  +3
 Feedback on my work has been prompt  61  -3  +1
 I have received detailed comments on my work  57  0  +4
 Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things
I did not understand
 60  +3  +5
 Academic support  82  +3  +7
 I have received sufficient advice and support with my studies  78  +4  +7
 I have been able to contact staff when I needed to  90  +2  +6
 Good advice was available when I needed to make study choices  77  0  +7
 Organisation and management  81  -2  -1
 The timetable works efficiently as far as my activities are concerned  82  -1  -1
 Any changes in the course or teaching have been communicated effectively  82  -1  0
 The course is well organised and is running smoothly  81  -1  -1
 Learning resources  95  0  +3
 The library resources and services are good enough for my needs  96  0  +1
 I have been able to access general IT resources when I needed to  96  -1  +2
 I have been able to access specialised equipment, facilities or rooms when I needed to  91 -2 +3
 Personal development  84  0  +1
 The course has helped me to present myself with confidence  84  +2  +3
 My communication skills have improved  83  +1  +2
 As a result of the course, I feel confident in tackling unfamiliar problems  85  -1  0
 Overall Satisfaction  87  0  +1
 Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course.  87  0  +1
 Students' Union  75  -2  +4
 I am satisfied with the Students' Union at my institution  75  -2  +4
       
Response rate  84  +3  +13
 
This table summarises the College's NSS 2014 results

 

Sector comparison

Graoh showing NSS 2014 results for the College and its key comparators This graph shows the NSS 2014 results for the College and key competitors by question category.

 

 

Graph showing NSS 2014 overall satisfaction results for the College and key comparators

 

 

 

This graph shows a breakdown of the responses for Overall Satisfaction for the College and key competitors for NSS 2014.

 

 

 


Comments

The National Student Survey (NSS) provides space for students to provide overall positive and overall negative comments about their experience. Details of the comments College students made can be found on the Comments page (internal only).


Subject level results

Select the link below to view the NSS 2014 results for that subject by Question Category, with comparison with previous years and the sector.

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Natural Sciences

Faculty of Medicine


Action plans

The College's action plans based on the results of NSS 2014 are available here: NSS 2014 action plans‌ (internal only pdf).