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Students endorse º£½ÇÖ±²¥ in national survey

A record number of students have voted º£½ÇÖ±²¥ as a great place to learn in a major national annual survey.

Almost three-quarters of º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s eligible on-campus students took part in the National Student Survey (NSS) which revealed the overall satisfaction with the University was at 84.4% - above the national average of 83.4%.

The NSS is undertaken independently by Ipsos MORI and is completed by students at all higher education institutions in the United Kingdom and is an influential source of public information about the sector.

Students are asked to rate their university and subject across a whole range of areas including teaching, assessment and feedback, academic support and personal development.

Vice-Chancellor of º£½ÇÖ±²¥, Professor Paul Croney, said: 'We are delighted to have received such a positive result in the National Student Survey and it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff.

'We are constantly looking for ways in which we can improve upon our performance and as work progresses on our £300million campus masterplan we are confident that º£½ÇÖ±²¥ will continue to be an attractive and inspiring place to live and study.

'Our performance in all the league tables published in recent months has been impressive but as we place students at the heart of everything we do it is particularly gratifying to get such a positive endorsement in the National Student Survey.'

This year, more than 2,000 º£½ÇÖ±²¥ students completed the 27 questions, a rise of more than 250 people from the previous year.

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) Professor Mark Simpson said the University had a number of initiatives to ensure the student voice was heard.

'The results of the NSS are very encouraging and we’re delighted so many students recognise the efforts the University is making – in consultation with the student community – to make their learning experience a positive one.

'We’re investing heavily to make sure that they are equipped with everything they need to succeed in the 21st century workplace.

'For example, our Future Facing Learning initiative will see all new eligible full-time undergraduate students receive an Apple iPad and a specially selected toolkit of apps which will enable them to excel at university and beyond.'

Tom Platt, President Education at º£½ÇÖ±²¥ Students’ Union (TUSU), said: 'We have worked closely with the University again this past year to encourage final year students to have their say in this very influential survey and I am delighted that so many chose to do so.

'The results are another very impressive indicator of the progress that is being made right across various aspects of the student experience and it’s particularly pleasing to see the SU securing such high levels of student satisfaction again.

'We’re delighted at the positive impact of the SU Course and Schools Reps along with the extra SU Learning Communities we have started this year. We’re also very proud to be inside the top 20% of Students’ Unions in the UK and the highest rated SU in the North East again this year.'

The positive NSS results are the latest in a series of accolades for º£½ÇÖ±²¥. In recent weeks, the University was named among the world’s best young universities in the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings 2018.

º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s teaching excellence was also highlighted as among the best in Europe in the Times Higher Education European Teaching rankings 2018.

It has also moved up 11 places in the 2019 Guardian University Guide league table and is now ranked joint 68th out of 121 institutions.

The Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2018 placed º£½ÇÖ±²¥ at 34 out of 116 institutions, climbing 24 places from last year’s survey. The University rose nine places in the Complete University Guide 2019, the highest climber across the five North East universities and The Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2018 saw º£½ÇÖ±²¥ rise to 15 out of 126 higher education institutions in the University of the Year category, climbing 51 places on 2017.