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1. What is the National Student Survey (NSS)?

The NSS is a national initiative, conducted annually since 2005. The survey runs across all publicly funded Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Additionally, Further Education Colleges (FECs) in England and Further Education Institutions (FEIs) in Wales with directly funded Higher Education students are eligible to participate.

The survey asks final year undergraduates to provide feedback on their courses in a nationally recognised format; students on flexible courses will be asked to participate as they near the end of their course but not necessarily in their final year. There are 23 core questions, relating to the following aspects of the student learning experience:

  1. Teaching on my Course
  2. Assessment and Feedback
  3. Academic Support
  4. Organisation and Management
  5. Learning Resources
  6. Personal Development
  7. Overall Satisfaction
  8. Satisfaction with the Students' Union (Association or Guild)

Students are also given the opportunity to give positive and/or negative comments on their student learning experience as a whole at their university/college. If you provide comments at the end of the questionnaire, we may pass these on, anonymously, to your institution to help them identify how they can make improvements. To preserve your, and others', anonymity, please do not make comments that:

  • could enable you as an individual to be identified
  • name individuals
  • make references that could identify an individual e.g. Course leader or head of department

Some institutions have opted to ask their students additional questions. If you are a student at one such institution, you will only be asked to complete these extra questions after completing the main questionnaire online.

Completion of these extra questions is not obligatory and you can decline the invitation to complete these questions. Your answers for the main NSS questions will still be taken into account. The extra questions should only take a few minutes to complete. The answers to these questions will only be provided to the student's institution and students' union and are not publicly available.

The National Student Survey Questionnaire

Frequently Asked Questions
  1. What is the National Student Survey (NSS)?
  2. How are the survey results used?
  3. Who is responsible for the survey?
  4. When and how does the survey take place?
  5. Who will be asked to take part in the survey?
  6. What is being asked in the survey?
  7. Who has access to eligible students' contact details?
  8. Are my responses anonymous?
  9. How do I take part in the survey?
  10. Can I select my preferred method of re-contact for completing the survey?
  11. Can I opt-out of the survey?
  12. How long will Ipsos MORI be holding the students' contact details? When will the data be destroyed?
  13. Where did Ipsos MORI get my contact details from?
  14. I have already completed the survey and I recently received a reminder. Do I have to complete it again?
  15. I am not in my final year as a student and I received an invitation to take part in the NSS. Should I take part in the survey?
  16. I completed the survey in 2012 - why have I been asked to fill it in again?
  17. How have the survey results from the previous eight years been used?
  18. Why have I been asked different questions to other people?
  19. Is it possible to change or withdraw my survey responses?
  20. I have tried to complete the survey online, but it does not recognise me as eligible?
  21. What were the results of the 2012 survey?
  22. What is the Intentions After Graduation Survey (IAGS)?