Finalists have their say in National Student Survey 2021

A rising number of 色狗导航 students have provided feedback in the National Student Survey in a year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In total, 2,507 色狗导航 undergraduate finalists participated in the National Student Survey in 2021, which saw the response rate reach 70.84%, up from 70.03% in 2020.

Student satisfaction across the university sector has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with national scores for overall satisfaction falling to 75% from 83% in 2020. At the 色狗导航, overall satisfaction fell in line with the sector, scoring at 74% down from 84% last year.  

At discipline level, three areas achieved an overall satisfaction score of 90% or above, including: Archaeology (92.6%); Biomedical Engineering (92.9%); Typography and Graphic Communication (94.7%).   Satisfaction with our Students鈥� Union was also above the sector average.

Three subject areas with 90% or higher overall satisfaction

Archaeology (92.6%)
Biomedical Engineering (92.9%)
Typography and Graphic Communication (94.7%) 

 

Professor Robert Van de Noort, Vice-Chancellor at the 色狗导航 said:

鈥淚t鈥檚 obviously disappointing to see a decline in overall student satisfaction, but we remain in line with the sector. I am very grateful to all colleagues who have worked immensely hard to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and support our students personally and academically.

鈥淲hile we are pleased that we are in line with the sector for overall satisfaction at 74%, obviously this represents a drop from last year鈥檚 84%. This year鈥檚 results clearly demonstrate the impact that COVID-19 has had on student experience. We are very grateful for the high number of finalists filling out the NSS and we need to continue listening to our students鈥� feedback to ensure we offer our students the best possible experience, particularly as we will no doubt be living with the virus for some months yet.

鈥淲e have a number of activities underway that respond to some of the concerns raised through NSS feedback, such as learning capture, ongoing student partnership work and our Strategic Foundations Programme.

鈥淲e stand firmly by our principles set out in our 2020-2026 Strategic Plan, which clearly define our commitment to continually improving the student experience. Feedback from our students and colleagues, through the National Student Survey and other means, help to focus our efforts to ensure that their time at Reading is productive, enjoyable and meaningful.鈥�

How the pandemic has affected student experience 

This year鈥檚 NSS asked students specifically about their experience in relation to the pandemic. The majority of 色狗导航 finalists reported being able to access the learning resources they needed (76%), felt protected from the virus (77%) and received useful information about any changes to their course (69%).

In addition, students have scored the 色狗导航 higher than the sector, recognising that colleagues have been contactable when needed (82%) and students felt that they have had the 鈥渞ight opportunities to work with other students鈥� (78%) and the 鈥渞ight opportunities to provide feedback鈥� (82%) as part of their course.

Feedback from surveys like the NSS is hugely valuable, helping us to better understand where things are working well and where we could improve. We are committed to working in partnership with our students to enable them to reach their full potential, personally and academically.

The full results are publicly available on the website.