Published on 27 July 2018
Overall student satisfaction at the University of Sunderland is 84% according to National Student Survey (NSS) results released today, 27 July; meanwhile 88%* of the North East university’s students feel their experience has been valuable, which is 10% higher than the average for England.
The University of Sunderland has seen record levels of participation in the NSS, with four out of every five students completing the survey and giving feedback on their satisfaction with the quality of their course, teaching excellence, support they receive and their overall experience.
Shirley Atkinson, University of Sunderland’s Vice-chancellor, said: “We’re particularly delighted to see that overall student satisfaction at the University of Sunderland is 84% - this is above the 83% sector average, which has seen a small decline. And the high percentage (88%) of University of Sunderland students who feel their student experience has been valuable is very gratifying – demonstrating the impact our transformation programme and focus on student experience and outcomes are having.”
Students ranked many of the University of Sunderland’s subjects highly. Student satisfaction was 100% for programmes including:
- BA (Hons) Education Studies
- BSc (Hons) Computer Science with Sandwich Year
- BSc (Hons) International Tourism and Hospitality Management
- BSc (Hons) Psychology with Counselling
- BSc (Hons) Social Sciences
- BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching
While over 90% of students were satisfied with programmes including: BSc (Hons) Psychology; BA (Hons) Fine Art; BA (Hons) Business and Financial Management; BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering; Master Pharmacy; BA (Hons) Primary Education; BA (Hons) Photography Video and Digital Imaging; BSc (Hons) Sociology; BA (Hons) Childhood Studies
Shirley Atkinson continued: “Students are at the heart of everything we do at the University of Sunderland and in their responses they have expressed their satisfaction with areas including ‘teaching on my course’, ‘learning opportunities’ and ‘academic support’ – placing the University of Sunderland above the sector average.
“The very high levels of participation mean we can be confident these results reflect the views of our student community, which show how highly students themselves rate and value their experience at the University of Sunderland – clearly highlighting the positive impact of our ambitious transformation programme; investment in facilities and infrastructure; and our focus on excellent teaching, applied research, professional practice and collaborative industry links.”
*University of Sunderland analysis of unpublished NSS data
What is the National Student Survey?
The annual National Student Survey (NSS) asks students to give feedback on a number of areas relating to their teaching and learning. The NSS gathers the views of final year students and over 320,000 UK students took part this year. The survey helps universities to identify what they do well, and highlights areas students feel there is room for improvement.
What did Sam Gyimah, Universities Minister, have to say?
“The student voice is the most important voice, and the National Student Survey is a vital tool that provides an invaluable insight into the student experience. It is brilliant to see continually high satisfaction rates but we need to keep improving. That is why I want to see universities and colleges using this data to enhance and develop their offer for those choosing to study there.”