The Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) is delighted to announce that in the 2019 National Student Survey we are 1st in the Russell Group in 6 out of 9 categories. * This is the best ever performance for the PAIS department against our key competitors.

In many categories and questions, we have improved our position nationally. Highlights amongst Russell Group competitors include:

• 1st for Learning Opportunities
• 1st for Assessment and Feedback
• 1st for Academic Support
• 1st for Organisation and Management
• 1st for Learning Community
• 1st for Student Voice

We are now in the Top 3 in the Russell Group on 23 of the 27 questions (and 1st on 12 questions), as well as 1st in the University for learning resources, in terms of the degrees we administer.

Across all questions, our average score increased 2.8%. Some of our most pleasing increases are summarised in the table below.

We again received impressive results on the stand-alone ‘overall satisfaction’ question. Our Politics International Studies and Hispanic Studies degree achieved 100% overall satisfaction. Our largest course, Politics and International gained 93% overall satisfaction. Across all programmes with which we are involved - both single and joint honours - we achieved 91% overall satisfaction. Only one other Russell Group institution performed as strongly.

These impressive outcomes are due to an outstanding team effort among academic and professional services colleagues as well as our fantastic students. Thanks to everyone for all your hard work and support in terms of teaching, feedback, and the student experience.

We look forward to working in partnership with our amazing students and dedicated staff to sustain and build on these strong results, which reflect our deep commitment to research-led teaching excellence. At the start of the new academic year we will feedback in greater detail to all students and we will discuss and take forward ideas for further enhancement of the PAIS student experience via our Student Staff Liaison Committees (SSLC).

*See the Office for Students website for more details and the full data. The results are based on the official CAH/JACS subject breakdowns and the 21 Russell Group institutions which met the publications threshold for Politics.