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Strong overall progress in student satisfaction among Warwick Economics students

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Strong overall progress in student satisfaction among Warwick Economics students

We are pleased to announce that the Department of Economics has improved its overall rating in the National Student Survey (NSS) by 6.5% points, with 89% of undergraduate students who took part in the survey agreeing that they were satisfied with the course as a whole.

NSS

The greatest NSS improvements were seen in the categories of assessment and feedback, which saw an 11.3% points increase in satisfaction, and in academic support, where satisfaction rose by 6.9% points. Nonetheless, we acknowledge the need to continue to liaise with students through Student Staff Liaison Committees and other student forums in order to further enhance the student experience of all aspects of teaching, learning and assessment. The Department also came out above the UK national average for Economics which stands at 84% for overall satisfaction.

The highest satisfaction scores were achieved in:

  • Student voice: 92.4 per cent of undergraduates agreed that: “I have had the right opportunities to provide feedback on my course.”
  • Teaching: 91.8 per cent of undergraduates agreed that “The course is intellectually stimulating,”
  • Academic support: 90.3 per cent of undergraduates agreed that “I have been able to contact staff when I needed to.”
PTES

The Department has also done well in the annual survey of students on its taught postgraduate programmes with an increase of 7% points to a 92% approval rating in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2019. This is 10% higher than the Russell Group average.

The top satisfaction scores in PTES were in:

  • Dissertation support: 97% agreed that “my supervisor has the skills and subject knowledge to adequately support my dissertation” and 91% said “my supervisor provides helpful feedback on my progress.”
  • Teaching: 94% agreed that “the course has enhanced my academic ability.”
  • Resources: 93% agreed that “I have been able to access general IT resources when I needed to” and 92% agreed that “I have been able to access subject specific resources necessary for my studies.”
PRES

The overall satisfaction in the biannual Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) was 77% which was disappointing for the Department. We will be taking steps to improve areas of weakness as identified by our postgraduate research students and we will focus more on the provision of opportunities for acquiring research skills and professional development.

Head of Department Professor Jeremy Smith said:

“As a Department we are determined to deliver the best education possible and these results are really encouraging.

“Over the last academic year the Department has focused on implementing a number of important improvements to the teaching and learning experience and these have been communicated to students via our “you said, so together we did” campaign, which encourages student feedback and reports on the changes that the Department has made as a result. It is therefore particularly good to see that the vast majority of our undergraduate and postgraduate students feel that they have had appropriate opportunities to give feedback.

“We are not resting on our laurels and we are keenly aware that our feedback from our postgraduate research students has highlighted areas where we are not meeting expectations.

"We will turn our focus to addressing some important issues that all students have raised and we hope that the new study areas we are creating in the Department for the start of the 2019-20 academic year will enhance the current facilities available to our students and create a place in which a learning community of staff and students can thrive.”