By Saira Afzal
This year’s National Student Survey (NSS) results were published earlier this year by the Office for Students (OfS). Every university in the UK takes part in the NSS, gathering students’ views on the quality of teaching at their place of study. The survey is completed by students across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Across all subjects full time undergraduate students at LSE responded most positively to the quality of learning resources.
Respondents were asked a series of questions about teaching aspects and provided answers on a Likert response scale. The overall results use a positivity measure (%) which represents the proportion of students who gave a positive answer (‘Very Good’ or ‘Good’).
Across all subjects LSE scored the highest positivity measure (88.6%) on learning resources, such as IT resources, library resources,and subject specific resources. LSE also scored highly on academic support (87.7%) and course teaching (87.5%). However areas where LSE received the lowest positivity measure were assessment and feedback (73.2%) and student voice (74.1%).
Both Language and History students responded most positively to the quality of learning resources at LSE, particularly LSE Library’s archival resources (93%). Economics and Politics students also ranked the quality of learning resources highly (91.1%, 90.8% respectively). Business and Management students considered academic support from LSE teaching staff to be the most positive area (93.5%).
Psychology students responded highly positively to their course’s quality of teaching and to learning opportunities (92.2%). In particular, most Psychology students felt they had the opportunity to integrate ideas and concepts from different topics and they appreciated the teaching staff were effective at explaining ideas.
The lowest scores were from students of Geography, Earth and Environmental studies, who responded least positively to assessment and feedback on their courses (61.7%). With regards to assessment and feedback, students were asked to assess the fairness and clarity of marking criteria, the time it took to receive feedback, and whether assessments progressed their learning further.
Another area that returned low scores was student voice, particularly among Politics, (66.7%) Sociology, Social Policy and Anthropology students (64.3%). On the matter of student voice, respondents were asked whether they feel their opinions are valued by staff, and if they feel student feedback is clearly acted upon in their course.
Compared to four other London-based Russell Group universities (Imperial College London, Queen Mary University of London, King’s College London, University College London), LSE received the highest number of positive responses in multiple aspects of teaching. Across all subjects LSE ranked highest for student voice (74.1%), organisation and management (82%), academic support (87.7%) and assessment and feedback (73.2%). Imperial College and UCL scored the highest on learning resources (89.1%, 88.6% respectively), with LSE following close behind. On the quality of course teaching, both Imperial and LSE had a positivity measure of 87.5%, while Queen Mary ranked last in the category with 81.6%.
Graphs by Sylvain Chan
