We have responded to proposals that would make a number of significant changes to the National Student Survey (NSS).
What is the National Student Survey?
The NSS is an annual survey of nearly half a million students across the UK. Institutions greatly value it for the insight it brings to improve students' experiences. It supports engagement with students to make sure universities are accountable and provides independent information for prospective students.
The survey also enables benchmarking across the whole of the UK. This is important for ensuring UK higher education remains world-leading and continues to challenge itself to improve its offer and value to students.
Our response
We reached the following positions in our response:
- We agree that the NSS should reflect the latest survey design best practice and can evolve. More direct questions are welcome, however, not all questions are well suited to this change.
- We disagree with the proposal to remove the summative question in England. Providers place a high value on this question, and we do not foresee any significant benefit to justify its removal.
- Two new questions were proposed for the survey. While covering important issues we do not believe they meet the NSS's core criteria.
Promoted content
Consultation response