Published on 10 August 2017
Our results in this year’s National Student Survey (NSS) show high levels of student satisfaction and engagement - reinforcing the life-changing experience we offer at Sunderland.
76% of our eligible final year students participated in the survey which is 4% up on last year. In line with the national result, 84% of our students who responded said they were satisfied with the quality of their course. This compares with 83% in 2016.
The NSS gathers the views of final year students and over 300,000 UK students took part this year. The survey is important as it helps us identify what we do well, and highlights areas where our students think we could make improvements.
Some of the survey highlights include impressive ratings for our programmes with 10 courses in particular receiving 100% for overall satisfaction, i.e. Tourism Management, International Tourism and Hospitality Management, Social Work, Film and Media, Fashion Journalism, Events Management, English Language and Literature, English and Creative Writing, English, Business and Marketing Management.
The NSS results reflect the quality of our teaching which is underpinned by relevant research and professional practice, and delivered by our staff who are committed to delivering an excellent student experience. This was also a theme which was reinforced by our recent Silver rating awarded in the Teaching Excellence Framework where the assessors applauded the university for promoting "...an institutional culture that facilitates excellent teaching.”
In addition there was positive news in the latest Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey results, which showed that 94.2% of our UK graduates are in work or further study within six months of graduating and that figure is even higher in specific subjects.
Vice Chancellor Shirley Atkinson said: “We are pleased with our results in this year’s National Student Survey as we really value the feedback from our students who are at the heart of everything we do.
“It is important that we understand what we do well and how that helps our students succeed. The feedback also helps us pinpoint the areas where we need to make improvements.
“I’d like to thank all of our staff whose continued commitment to supporting our students contributes to our high levels of student satisfaction and particularly the work we do to tailor each student’s experience to their individual needs.”
Dr Rob Trimble, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Students, added: "The NSS is important to us, prospective students refer to NSS data when choosing their course and our result contributes to our performance in league tables. This is a pleasing result but there is always room for improvement. Changes to the survey this year make it difficult to do year on year comparisons so we are looking at 2017 to provide us with a new base line from which to improve our position”.
Sunderland was voted best in the region in the category of ‘Student Voice’. Our institution received the highest rating out of the five North East universities for offering students the right opportunities to provide feedback on their course, an area they have also recognised as highly valued by our staff.
Since the NSS was introduced in 2005 the University has seen significant investment in every aspect of its estate and teaching provision. Over this period the University has invested more than £130m in its campuses. This year’s investments include over £1m being ploughed into the School of Engineering to deliver more graduates with the high-level skills employers in the sector need; and the Sunderland School of Nursing is already expanding. Open for just a year it’s focused on improving patient care in the region and Nursing at the University of Sunderland was ranked fifth in the country in the Guardian League tables. Investment in our Living Lab, part of the Sciences Complex means that the University has the very latest high-fidelity simulation suites that replicate emergency scenarios and is used extensively by students and medical practitioners and is revolutionising training in the health care professions.