The National Student Survey

The National Student Survey (NSS) 2013 runs from the 4th February 2013 to the 30th April 2014. The survey is open to all final year undergraduates.

The National Student Survey is your chance to let us know how you feel about your course. The aims of the survey are to inform us, as both a Department and a University of how we are doing, as well as providing prospective students with further evidence to inform their decision of where to study.

We take this survey very seriously, and obtaining accurate scores is very important since people judging the quality of this degree may use these ratings as a tool.

There are however, a few key things to keep in mind when completing this survey. As a soon-to-be Sociological Studies graduate you will soon spot the shortcomings in such a survey!

The most important thing to remember is you are rating your degree as a whole. Comments about specific people or modules are not suitable for this survey.

Completing the Survey

Make full use of the numerical scale:

All the responses you will be asked to give are on a 5-point scale. A lot of people may be reluctant to use a 5 as you may recall one or two negative incidences. Using such a small scale as 1-5 though is very limiting, so a 5 doesn’t really mean everything was a 100% perfect but rather it means that overall you were satisfied.

Try to avoid using 3s if possible. If you were satisfied then use 4 or 5, or likewise 1 or 2 if you were unhappy. If you feel the question isn’t applicable to you or feels too vague or irrelevant, then please use NA (not applicable). Numerical marks get counted in the scores and can therefore skew the outcomes, whereas NAs are tallied separately.

Understand the questions and break them down:

Questions on teaching:

This question is looking at teaching provision in general, so look back through your whole experience here –everyone has their stand-out tutors but try to reflect on the teaching as a holistic experience.

Questions on Assessment and Feedback:

Think back over all the different types of feedback and assessment that you have experienced over the course of your study: for example, formal, informal, verbal, one-to-one and peer feedback. Similarly you have undertaken a range of assessments including assignments, exams and presentations. Try not to compare your experiences to ones from college or school where assessment and feedback is quite rightly a wholly different model.

Questions on Academic Support

This can be a difficult section as some people relate it to tutorials, personal tutors or dissertation supervisors. This question relates to the overall level of support you have experienced, and the quality and availability of that support. Some may feel support was rarely needed so might find this question difficult to answer although conversely, not needing support means our Academic Support if excellent! But if you are in doubt and are unclear on the question, natural justice would suggest a positive response or again, do not be afraid to use the NA option if you genuinely feel you are not able to give an informed answer.

Questions on Organisation and Management

This section relates to course structure, management and general organisation. Most people find the section one of the clearest in terms of meaning.

Questions on Learning Resources

These questions relate to any resource you use in your learning – from the library, to IT equipment, to online resources. There is a distinction in the questions between “general” and “specialised” resources which again, depending on your degree experience might be unclear or irrelevant. If you do not feel you are qualified to answer NA is a definite option instead of a 3.

Questions on Personal Development

These questions are to encourage you to reflect on how much you feel you have developed over the course of your time here, and each question focuses on a specific skill set.