A new measurement and ranking system for the UK National Student Survey

Abstract

Despite numerous criticisms of the UK National Student Survey (NSS) institutional managers still strongly support its use in informing student choice, quality and assurance and quality enhancement activities. This article outlines a granular and nuanced benchmarking system for the NSS which provides both a ‘raw’ score (weighted student satisfaction score) and a normalised quotient (weighted student satisfaction quotient) to enable users to take a more considered approach to the absolute and relative strengths and weaknesses of individual course programmes.

Keywords:

• National Student Survey
• student satisfaction
• student surveys
• league tables
• student voice

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank three anonymous referees for their helpful comments on a previous version this paper and members of the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) who responded to my query about the use professional organisations make of the NSS.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/

Additional information

John Canning is Senior Lecturer in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Brighton. He is particularly interested in the notion of the student voice and teaches on the University's Postgraduate Certificate course for early career academics.