National Student Survey: NSS
For students on courses leading to undergraduate credits or qualifications.
NEW: A vision for education and skills at Newcastle University: Education for Life 2030+
How to support students to engage with the NSS
To support programmes to reach the minimum requirement of a 50% response rate, we run a comprehensive promotion campaign, with incentives for students.
Local promotion campaigns are also really key, see below for ideas and resources to help you support response rates in your school.
Central Promotion Campaign
Students will receive a weekly email from Student Surveys encouraging them to take part in the survey. Pop-up stalls will be taking place in the following locations: Philip Robinson Library, Marjorie Robinson Library, NUSU, Sports Centre foyer, Business School and the Henry Daysh foyer. The university provides incentives to support high response rates across the whole institution. These are targeted to support early responses by the 28th February, so encouraging your students to complete it early puts them in the best position to win these. Posters and postcards are available in school offices and can be re-printed from the digital files inthe Toolkit.
What can you do in your school?
The National Student Survey (NSS) plays a vital role in shaping the student experience across schools and educational institutions. By gathering honest feedback on the quality of teaching, learning resources, and overall student satisfaction, the NSS helps to identify strengths and areas for improvement. To ensure the survey is as impactful as possible, it is essential that staff take proactive steps to support and promote participation.
Raise Awareness - Many students may not be fully aware of the importance of the NSS or its impact. Staff can:
- Share information: Use Canvas, class time, and newsletters to explain what the NSS is, why it matters, and how the feedback contributes to improving the educational experience.
- Highlight real examples: Share stories or case studies of past changes that have been made in response to survey results, demonstrating the value of participation.
Make the survey available
- Set aside time: Dedicate a portion of class or tutorial time for students to complete the survey, ensuring they have both the time and the means to participate.
- Provide technology: Ensure access to school computers, tablets, or Wi-Fi so that students can complete the online survey without obstacles.
Collaborate Across Departments
- Coordinate others: Work with school staff to include NSS promotion in broader student engagement strategies.
- Include student leaders: Partner with student reps or ambassadors to spread the word and encourage their peers to participate.
What does the NSS ask students about?
The survey has a number of core questions, relating to the following aspects of the student learning experience:
- Teaching on my Course
- Learning Opportunities
- Marking and Assessment
- Academic Support
- Organisation and Management
- Learning Resources
- Student Voice
- Mental health and wellbeing services
- Freedom of expression
Results
The results of the National Student Survey (NSS) are shared in several ways to benefit students, staff, and other stakeholders in higher education:
Public Access via Official Websites
- Publication on Discover Uni: NSS results are made available to prospective students and the general public through platforms like Discover Uni (a UK government website). This site presents summarised data, such as student satisfaction rates, to help prospective students compare institutions and make informed decisions.
Internal Reports for Institutions
- Detailed Reports: Participating institutions receive a detailed report from the NSS administrators. These reports include scores for various aspects of the student experience, broken down by department, course, and demographic groups. The data is available through the Strategic Insights Portal.
- Benchmarking and Comparison: Newcastle University uses the data to benchmark our performance against other universities and national averages.
Communication with Students
- Student Briefings: Newcastle University shares the results directly with current students through newsletters, presentations, or feedback events.
Free text comments
- Comment analysis: Newcastle University uses Explorance MLY to analyse the student comments. Once analysed, the comments are made available to individual schools through the School Access folders.
Education Policy and Governance Service (EPGS) will contact School Leadership Teams in advance of the results.
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