Senate
Subject: National
Student Survey 2009
Origin: Pro
Vice-Chancellor (Teaching)
Executive Summary:
The National Student Survey has
produced a successful outcome again this year.
At institutional level the results place Loughborough in a very strong
position within the sector. Some subject
areas have exceptionally good results.
In others the outcomes are disappointing. Actions are underway within Faculties to
ensure that issues of concern are discussed and addressed appropriately
Senate Action Required:
Senate is asked to note the contents
of the paper.
For a fifth year Loughborough final year students had the
opportunity to assess their degree programmes in the National Student
Survey. The outcomes for the University
were excellent. They demonstrate once
again the commitment of staff to teaching, student learning and support and
that this commitment is appreciated by our student community. With a response rate of seventy-four per
cent, this was slightly less than last year but in the top four
universities. A ranking by response rate
is not published.
The Survey results which were formally released in
September, placed Loughborough fourth in the UK among publicly funded
institutions, ranked on question 22, ‘students’ overall satisfaction
with their course’, based on the average score across a five-point
scale.
Table 1 lists the top 20 universities ranked on question 22
when the calculation is based on the percentage of students rating their course
as ‘four’ or ‘five’ on the five-point scale. Also shown is the percentage of positive
responses across the different question groups.
The final column, which summarises the results across all questions, ranks
Loughborough in second place. Overall, at institutional level the average score
for each question group was almost identical to last year. This consistency is impressive and
demonstrates that Loughborough students continue to rate their programmes
highly across a range of criteria.
At subject level there were some exceptional results. Based on average score for question 22, 4
subjects were ranked first and 21 out of 33 were ranked in the top 10. Also on question 22 a total of 13 subjects
produced an average score that was within the top 10th percentile in their
subject area. Table 2 lists those
subjects in which the ranking was 15th or higher and they also
appear in the top 15 per cent of institutions.
Some subjects in each Faculty had disappointing results this year and
these have been a focus of particular attention.
In order that the outcomes could be interpreted carefully
and appropriate actions taken, the Planning Office prepared a range of
data. It was discussed by members of
Programme Quality Team and the Planning Office and circulated to
departments. Analysis of students’
qualitative comments was carried out by members of the Teaching Centre. Relevant sections were made available to
departments and the full analysis was presented to Programme Quality Team
(PQT). Learning and Teaching Committee
has had oversight of the results.
In Science and SSH, meetings have been held with individual
Heads of Department and key departmental learning and teaching staff to discuss
their results. Summaries of these
meetings have been presented to PQ Team.
In the Science Faculty, NSS results were addressed at a recent Away day
and follow-up discussions with departments are being incorporated in Deanery
visits. In both Engineering and Science,
HoDs have been asked to identify two actions arising from their NSS results,
which they will pursue in 2009/10.
Author – PVC(T), Secretary, Learning and Teaching Committee
Date –
November 2009
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