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NSS 2011 questionnaire

Click here to download the Sunderland National Student Survey 2011 Questionnaire (.doc).


National Student Survey

The National Student Survey (NSS) is conducted on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

The survey involves all Higher Education and Further Education institutions across the country, and results inform various league tables. The survey is annual, and typically runs from January to end of April.

Participants include students who are in the final year of a course lasting more than one year (who were not surveyed the year before). Therefore, final year first degree students and final year Foundation degree students are included both on and off campus, but top-up students are excluded.

There are 22 questions in the main body of the questionnaire, and universities and colleges have no influence over these main questions. The 22 questions are grouped into seven areas:

  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

Participants are asked the extent to which they agree or disagree with a number of statements beneath each of the sections, except for 'Overall satisfaction' which is a single statement.

'Overall satisfaction' seeks views about a whole programme and results from this question are used most widely in league tables and publications, including those produced by the Guardian and the Times.

All NSS results are published on the Unistats website which is a source of much detailed information about Higher Education subjects (based on JACS subject codes). The site is aimed at those people who are in the process of choosing their course, as well as their families and anyone offering advice and guidance in this area.

Higher Education institutions can usually access latest NSS results for their on-campus students in late summer.

At the University of Sunderland, early results are analysed by the Market Research Service and disseminated to Faculties within a couple of weeks of access to the data. More detailed reports are provided to Faculties and Services via the Academic Experience Committee, Associate Deans (Student Experience), and Heads of Department within Faculties.

Click here to see the NSS Results archive (University staff only - login required).