More University of Leeds students than ever before said they were satisfied with their course, according to this year’s National Student Survey (NSS).
A record 90% of this year’s final year students at Leeds said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of their course – up 2% on last year’s figures and well above the average of 86% in what is a highly competitive sector.
The survey measures the satisfaction levels of students and gives prospective students valuable information that will help them decide what and where to study.
The latest figures, revealed today, have also led to a substantial improvement in the University’s ranking within the UK’s 24 research-intensive Russell Group universities – on the basis of students’ scores for overall satisfaction, Leeds now shares third place, up from joint 11th last year. It is the only one in the group to score 85% or above in seven out of eight categories.
Leeds University Union also has cause to celebrate, increasing its score by another 1%, to 92%, maintaining an impressive position above the sector average of 69%.
With 78% of eligible students completing the survey, Leeds maintained its response rate, which continues to be one of the highest in the sector and well above the national response rate of 71%.
Professor Vivien Jones is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Student Education at the University of Leeds.
She said: “This is an excellent result for us – it really consolidates the upward trend we’ve recorded in the NSS over the last five years
“We’re grateful that so many of our students chose to share their views and take part in what is a very valuable exercise. It’s really encouraging to see that they are recognising the benefits of the many positive changes we have made, working in partnership with students.
“I’d like to thank colleagues for their commitment, and hope people share my satisfaction that all our efforts have been worthwhile.
“As ever, there is still work to do and in the coming weeks we shall be looking at the results in detail to identify where and how we can make further improvements across all categories.”
Toke Dahler, Union Affairs Officer at Leeds University Union, said: "I couldn't be happier to hear that students are more satisfied than ever with the Union, and to see our increase in students' satisfaction rise for yet another year. I would like to thank the fantastic efforts of our staff, who have directly impacted on this achievement, and all the students who make up Leeds University Union.”
Melissa Owusu, the Union’s Education Officer said: “I’m proud of our continual improvement and believe that this is a result of working in partnership with the University and supporting students throughout their studies with a range of new initiatives this year.”
Further information
The National Student Survey is sponsored by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The 11th NSS ran from January to April 2015. More than 300,000 final-year students responded to the survey, from 155 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs),190 Further Education Colleges (FECs) and five private higher education providers from across the UK.
Final year students were asked to indicate their level of agreement with each of 23 statements using a five point rating scale, from ‘definitely disagree’ to ‘definitely agree’.
More detailed data are available on the HEFCE website. The Unistats website will be updated with the 2015 NSS results in September.
For further details, contact the University Press Office on 0113 3434031 or email pressoffice@leeds.ac.uk