National Student Survey results 2024
The National Student Survey (NSS) seeks the views of final-year undergraduate students across the UK every year. The survey enables higher education providers to continuously evaluate, improve and benchmark the courses they offer, and it helps to inform decisions made by prospective students about where to study.
This year, 4,177 (74%) of our finalists who were eligible to participate took part in the survey, up from 72% in 2023 and 62% in 2022.
At Warwick, our results are positive overall, with 86% of students saying that they would recommend Warwick as a place to study - a 3.6% increase from 2023.
This highlights the ongoing dedication of our colleagues in working with our student body to gather insights through Student Staff Liaison Committees (SSLCs), student panels and co-creation projects, and act on student feedback.
Overall results
The results of this year’s survey were published by the Office for Students on 10 July through a public release on their website and through a more granular dataset sent to each provider. We are sharing headline findings today and plan to share more detailed information in the coming months, once we have completed an in-depth analysis.
At Warwick
Warwick has scored above the sector benchmark in six of the seven key question groupings (Teaching, Learning Opportunities, Academic Support, Organisation and Management, Learning Resources, and Student Voice), scoring just below than the sector average for Assessment and Feedback. Warwick ranks in the top five in the Russell Group across all question themes.
Our highest scoring grouping is for Learning Resources (91%), and we have also scored highly for Academic Support (89%) and Teaching (88%). Students ranked Warwick second in the Russell Group sector for Student Voice (78%).This all reflects positively on the work of academic and professional services staff to continue to listen to and act upon our students’ feedback, and ensure our students are supported.
Our highest scoring question is ‘How good are teaching staff at explaining things?’ which achieved 93% positivity (2% ahead of the sector). This demonstrates the hard work of our teaching staff across the University and how much this is valued by our students.
Warwick also has an 83% positivity score for mental wellbeing services (compared to 78% in the sector) and 88% for freedom of expression (compared to 86% in the sector).
There are eight questions where we have scored higher than the sector average for Degree Apprentices, with 92% of Warwick Degree Apprentices agreeing that they could easily contact teaching staff when needed.
The results have also highlighted areas where we can work to improve, by ensuring that marking criteria is clear and that the feedback students receive helps them improve their work. There is also more we can do to make sure we share how we act on the feedback our students share about their course.
We are delighted to see that overall, our students continue to have a positive learning experience and would recommend Warwick to future students.
Departmental results
Headline results have been released to departments on 10 July via nominated NSS leads. This includes quantitative results by department and course for each question and comparisons to last year’s data. More detailed analysis, including open text comments, will be produced and released in the coming months.
Overall, the rich feedback provided to us by our students gives us a lot to think about as we continue to work on preparations for the next academic year. It will complement our new 2030 Education and Student Experience Strategy.
In conclusion
The NSS is a good opportunity to reflect on the work that has gone into teaching and supporting our students. The Education Strategy Team passes on its thanks to all colleagues who have played their part in supporting our students this year.
These results show that we have much to be proud of and that our students continue to value the work our staff invest into delivering excellent learning and teaching. The overall results validate the numerous initiatives departments have put in place to enhance the student experience.
Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Warwick said:
“Our latest result in the National Student Survey demonstrates the dedication of our colleagues who are committed to ensuring the best possible student experience.
“Co-creating an outstanding educational experience together with our staff and students is one of our strategic priorities. We are committed to building on feedback and further evolving the student experience here at Warwick.”