The National Student Survey

Researching the National Student Survey

The National Student Survey (NSS) was set up in 2005 to gather feedback on the quality of undergraduate courses and help potential students compare subjects and universities.

The survey asks final year students to provide feedback in the following areas:

• teaching on their course
• assessment and feedback
• academic support
• organisation and management
• learning resources
• personal development
• overall satisfaction

The results of each year’s survey are published on the Unistats website, which also incorporates information on:

• student entry qualifications and UCAS points, continuation and achievement
• destinations of leavers, job categories and and types
• student domicile, age, level of study, gender, study mode
• student satisfaction

The Higher Education Academy has produced a number of National Student Survey resources, aimed at supporting academics in interpreting and using the NSS data.

Law schools and the National Student survey

An analysis of the 2008 results by subject shows Law comfortably mid-table in 39th place, with a rating of 88.4% for “overall satisfaction” (based on 10,576 responses from 87 institutions). Full results from Unistats.

A closer look at the 2005 survey shows that only two law courses made the national top 50, with another law course ranked third from the bottom. In 2006, law schools were again at the top and the bottom of the survey, contrasting markedly with some other discipline areas, notably ‘English-based studies’, which occupied 11 of the top and none of the bottom 50 places in 2005. What accounts for the difference?

The sector-wide trend of the lowest scores being awarded in the assessment and feedback category was however reflected in the results for law in the 2005 and 2006 surveys, with a median score of 3.5 – a full half point below the median for the categories of teaching quality and personal development.

At a conference organised by the Higher Education Academy in June 2006 on using the survey to improve student learning Rob East (Glamorgan) and Alastair Gillespie (De Montfort) led a session on the use of the survey in law. They emphasised that while caution is required in interpreting the data as a record of quality, it is an important indicator of students’ perceptions. They suggested that pastoral support and practices that foster cooperation between staff and students were important strategies for survey success!

A ‘forum on student satisfaction (or dissatisfaction)’ was held at the 2007 Association of Law Teachers’ Conference. The forum commented that student feedback was always helpful, but that there were a number of ways the survey could be improved to make its results more informative. Concern was expressed over the way the rankings were compiled – developed simply from one question asking whether students are satisfied overall with their course.

The forum felt that the data does not provide sufficient explanation as to the reasons for the low scores for assessment and feedback – research is needed to pick up various nuances the survey cannot capture. For example, some law teachers felt that students do not take advantage of current feedback arrangements.

The general consensus was that the survey is not the most useful form of student feedback. Student fora were more helpful, mainly because they are interactive – areas of concern can be pursued in discussions. Another useful and more balanced way of obtaining feedback is the Start/Stop/Keep approach – students provide details on three things they want the law teacher to start, stop and keep doing.

Last Modified: 4 June 2010