Low student reply rate keeps top institutions off tally of campuses and lessens the impact of results. Jessica Shepherd reports.
More of the UK's top universities were excluded from the National Student Satisfaction Survey this year because too few of their students responded - raising concerns about the poll's currency among applicants.
Birmingham, Manchester, Royal Holloway, Liverpool John Moores and London Metropolitan universities had participation rates too low to count, as did University College London and the London School of Economics.
Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, East London and London South Bank universities were discounted for the second year running because their response rates were less than 50 per cent - the threshold for the survey.
Overall, the response rate this year was 56 per cent, down 4 percentage points on last year. Many of the universities whose results were excluded said this was because students felt they had been bombarded by phone calls seeking responses last year.
But this year's survey - the second of its kind - included Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews, which meant Scottish institutions were involved for the first time.
Buckingham, City, Thames Valley and Southampton Solent universities were included for the first time this year.
The changing participation in the survey will prompt further questions about the future viability of the exercise, which ministers conceived as a comprehensive guide for prospective students.
Michael Arthur, vice-chancellor of Leeds University and chair of the survey's steering group, said he was "slightly disappointed" that some universities were absent. But he told The Times Higher that he hoped the "art of gentle persuasion" would boost the number of universities in the survey next year.
He said: "The vast majority of students in the vast majority of universities are getting a pretty good experience.
"The survey is working as a quality enhancement mechanism. Universities have made significant efforts to address where they are underperforming."
For example, some universities have extended library opening hours and improved student consultation procedures as a result of last year's feedback.
While many institutions conduct their own student surveys, the National Student Satisfaction Survey allows institutions to compare themselves with the rest of the UK.
Final-year students rated their lectures on a five-point scale in categories ranging from teaching to assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources and personal development.
Students also answered a separate question that asked them to rate their overall satisfaction with their course. This is not included in The Times Higher satisfaction score to avoid duplication.
The survey, carried out by Ipsos MORI, shows 80 per cent of the 157,000 students who responded said they were satisfied with their course. The result was the same last year.
Next year, the survey might include a question on whether a course offers value for money, said Bill Rammell, the Higher Education Minister.
The survey's steering group is also discussing conducting the survey once every two years and allowing a university to be included when just 30 per cent of its students respond.
According to The Times Higher' s satisfaction score, students were most satisfied at Buckingham, the UK's only private university. Ninety-four per cent of its students expressed overall satisfaction with their course.
Its vice-chancellor, Terence Kealey, said this might be in part because of its staff-to-student ratio of 1:9. The average in the sector is nearer to 1:17.
He said: "All our teaching is tutorial based. Our ethos is traditional teaching - the kind of teaching that used to be the norm in the sector 50 years ago. All our staff believe the prime purpose is to support the students. I don't think all universities have this. Some places are obsessed with the research assessment exercise and rankings."
The Open University, which was ranked first last year, slipped to second position in the table but achieved the top score for overall satisfaction.
East Anglia, Leicester and Loughborough also performed particularly well, as they did last year.
St Andrews emerges as the highest ranked of the three Scottish institutions. Many of the other universities ranked highly by students belonged to the 94 Group.
At the bottom of the list, according to The Times Higher' s satisfaction score, was Westminster University, with 74 per cent of its students declaring themselves to be satisfied.
A Westminster spokesman said the university was carrying out a study into how it could improve the experience of its students.
He said: "We do have subject areas in which our students express good levels of satisfaction, and the challenge is now to ensure that this best practice is replicated across the whole of the university."
Full results are at www.tqi.ac.uk
THE MEASURE OF CONTENTMENT
The Times Higher satisfaction score is an overall measure of the ratings provided by students in the national satisfaction survey.
It is an institutional average of the scores received for 21 questions. Students rated their lecturers on a five-point scale in categories ranging from teaching (for example, how good were staff at making a subject interesting) to assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources and personal development. Students also rated their overall satisfaction with their course. This is not included in The Times Higher satisfaction score, but is listed in a separate column in the table.
The results for the following institutions are not included in this year's survey because the response rates were below 50 per cent: Birmingham, Cambridge, East London, Liverpool John Moores, London Metropolitan, London School of Economics, Manchester, Oxford, Royal Holloway, South Bank and UCL. Institutions appearing for the first time: Bedfordshire, Buckingham, City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Southampton Solent, St Andrews and Thames Valley.
The high and the low
What gives one law school the most and another the least satisfied students in the country? Two departments emerge at the top and bottom of the ratings when all 1,546 degree courses are ranked by The Times Higher satisfaction score.
Leeds Metropolitan University's law department has the lowest score (2.97 out of a maximum of five), but Sally Brown, pro vice-chancellor, was keen to put the results in context.
"Students will complain about anything they are unhappy about, and law students more than others. It is disappointing, but it does not reflect the efforts that we are putting in."
The university's school was rated particularly poorly for organisation and learning resources. In mitigation, Professor Brown cited disruption caused by a departmental move. "The law school has just moved to fantastic buildings. My guess is that in that transition year we have been slightly lower in the ratings than we would hope. Students do not like moves and change very much."
She thinks her strategy of assessment and feedback will bolster the area.
"These are final-year students who have not had time to benefit from the new assessment, learning and teaching strategy. It has been amended to focus on streamlined feedback and prompt return of work."
Professor Brown emphasised the stronger scores for teaching and personal development and said that the university's annual internal student survey indicated more student satisfaction. "The National Student Satisfaction Survey is a snapshot. Snapshots are useful, but they do not tell the whole story."
The picture at the law department at King's College London is rosy. It has a score of 4.47 - the highest for any course in the survey. Robert Blackburn, the acting head of the law school and professor of constitutional affairs, attributed the department's success to nurturing a good relationship with students.
"Students are at the heart of what we do. London is a big city, not a leafy campus. We compensate by having a high level of pastoral care; we see our tutees regularly," he said. "The University of London is more down to earth than ivory tower universities like Oxford or Cambridge. We do not patronise our students; we treat them like ordinary people and enjoy their company."
Like many academics at King's, Professor Blackburn is involved in the legal system, something he believes is vital to linking students to the industry.
"We put teaching in a contextual sense. We interact with the real world."
The teaching resources are very popular with students as well. "We are leading the way in providing resources for students. We also have a high level of IT support, with three dedicated members of staff." Times Higher Student Satisfaction Rating 2006
Patrick Ward and Chaminda Jayanetti
LINK TO TABLE IN STATISTICS SECTION