National Student Survey 2022: satisfaction remains at record low

Students’ satisfaction with their courses at UK universities has recovered slightly compared with last year but remains at record low levels, according to the latest National Student Survey.

The UK-wide poll of 325,000 students found that 76.3 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the quality of their course overall, up from 74.4 per cent last year but still below the previous lowest figure for overall satisfaction of 80.3 per cent, recorded in 2006.

Students taking the survey reported better access to learning resources compared with 2021, with the agreement rate for this question recovering to just under 81 per cent after a 12 per cent drop last year. There was also stronger agreement that students could access resources when needed and that IT and library facilities had supported their learning well, likely reflecting a return to more in-person education after two years of disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the quality of teaching was still seen as lagging behind pre-pandemic levels, with the percentage of students expressing positive opinions in this area remaining static at 80 per cent, still down from the 84 per cent recorded in 2020.

There was a slight dip in the number of students who agreed that they could contact staff when they needed to but a slight increase in those who said they had received sufficient advice and guidance during their studies.

This year’s survey will perhaps be the last time students are asked about overall satisfaction in their course after a major review recommended rewording this question because it was feared to be “unhelpful for the survey as a whole”. A consultation on what the 2023 edition of the survey will look like is expected to begin imminently.

Of the universities on the list, the University of St Andrews retained its place at the top for overall satisfaction, with 90 per cent of students saying they were satisfied, although this was slightly down from 93.3 per cent last year. Goldsmiths, University of London had a satisfaction rating of 52.4 per cent, down from 61.5 per cent. BPP University and the Courtauld Institute of Art also had satisfaction scores below 60 per cent, although the former pointed out that undergraduates only account for 2.3 per cent of its entire student population.

The Brighton and Sussex Medical School saw a steep drop in its satisfaction rating, which fell from 95 per cent in 2021 to 81 per cent, while Heriot-Watt University also recorded a near 10-percentage point drop. The University of Leeds’ score dropped from 76 per cent to 69 per cent, and the University of Liverpool’s also decreased by a similar amount.

Manchester Metropolitan University’s satisfaction levels rose by 8 percentage points, while Nottingham Trent University’s increased by seven and Teesside University’s went up by nine.

Many universities’ scores were above their “benchmark” figure, outperforming what their results might be expected to be given their mix of students. These included Aberystwyth, Coventry and Bangor universities, as well as the universities of Exeter, Aberdeen, Ulster, Surrey and West London. Those performing significantly below their benchmark included the universities of Westminster, Brighton, Bristol, Chester and Edinburgh.

There was also variation in the views of students pursuing different subjects – 89 per cent of veterinary students were positive about the quality of teaching on their course, compared with 76 per cent of computing students across the UK.

Susan Lapworth, the interim chief executive of the English regulator, the Office for Students, said the results reflected the views of final-year students who “bore the brunt of the pandemic”, with much of their time at university affected by lockdowns and other restrictions.

“This year’s results show that there is still more to do if students’ views of the quality of their course are to improve to pre-pandemic levels. This should be an immediate priority for many universities and colleges,” she said.

Driving up quality among higher education providers is a key priority for the OfS and the government – with “boots on the ground” inspections recently announced – and Ms Lapworth said the NSS results would further inform this work.

The high scores in access to learning resources were “testament to the hard work of universities and their staff”, according to Chris Hale, interim chief executive of Universities UK.

He said improvements made in online education during the pandemic, combined with a return to in-person teaching, meant that students could now enjoy the “best of both worlds”.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com