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National Student Survey 2021: overall satisfaction results show varied impact of Covid-19

Explore the full results of the 2021 National Student Survey (NSS) including how satisfied UK students were with teaching, Covid-19 measures and mental health support this year

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Joy Hunter

Student content curator
July 19 2021
National Student Survey 2021

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The results of the UK’s National Student Survey 2021 are in, offering insight into how Covid-19 has affected the university study experience.

About 330,000 students from hundreds of universities, colleges and other providers across the UK completed the 2021 National Student Survey. This is up from the 310,000 students who answered the survey in 2020.

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Survey questions covered all areas of academic life, including the quality of teaching, feedback on work, and learning resources.

The small but mighty University of St Andrews was a close second, with 93.34 per cent.

Overall, 75 per cent of UK students agreed that they were satisfied with the quality of their course, a significant decrease from 83 per cent last year.

Despite the sector-wide drop, satisfaction rates differed among courses and providers.

Sharp declines in overall satisfaction came from students in subject areas such as agriculture, architecture and creative and performing arts. This perhaps reflects the difficulty that these hands-on courses had transitioning to remote learning.

Meanwhile, satisfaction rates barely changed from previous years for students on distance learning courses that were established pre-pandemic.

The Office for Students, which manages the survey, included an extra set of questions specific to studying during the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 180,000 students answered, with 80 per cent agreeing that their institution had provided sufficient protective equipment, social distancing measures and distance learning opportunities.

However, the survey suggests that the availability of learning resources for students has been significantly strained over the past year. On IT facilities, 72 per cent of students agreed that they supported their learning well, compared with 83 per cent last year. Meanwhile, 75 per cent said library resources were sufficient to support their learning, compared with 87 per cent in 2020.

Satisfaction scores for mental health support were among the lowest, with only 42 per cent of students agreeing that their university or college was doing enough to support their mental well-being throughout the pandemic.

The chief executive of the Office for Students, Nicola Dandridge, agreed that while the circumstances of the pandemic were exceptional, low satisfaction with mental health services was a concern. “Consideration should be given to what more can be done to ensure students are appropriately supported,” she said.

Explore the full table of universities and their ranking in the survey below.

NSS 2021 Rank  University  Overall Satisfaction Score (%)
1 Brighton and Sussex Medical School 95.19
2 University of St Andrews 93.34
3 The Open University  88.24
4 University of Bath 86.06
5 University of Strathclyde 85.15
6 Loughborough University 85.11
7 University of Law  84.97
8 Royal College of Music 84.75
9 University of Aberdeen 84.54
10 Imperial College London  84.46
11 Harper Adams University 84.22
12 University of Glasgow 83.68
13 Robert Gordon University 83.54
14 University of Warwick 83.24
15 Aberystwyth University 83.21
16 Swansea University 82.8
17 Lancaster University 82.67
18 Hull York Medical School 82.54
19 University of Buckingham 82.11
20 Plymouth Marjon University 81.55
21 Edinburgh Napier University 81.08
22 St Mary's University 80.97
23 Durham University 80.86
24 Ulster University 80.85
25 University of Chichester 80.78
26 University of Stirling 80.76
27 Keele University 80.63
28 University of Surrey 80.48
29 Hartpury University 80.27
30 London Metropolitan University 80.03
31 University of Bolton 79.91
32 University of Sheffield 79.55
33 Heriot-Watt University 79.36
34 University of Southampton 79.34
35 Richmond, American International University in London 79.1
36 Queen Margaret University 79.04
37 Abertay University 79.02
38 University of Sunderland 78.91
39 University of Dundee 78.77
40 University of Liverpool 78.65
41 Queen's University Belfast 78.63
42 Regent's University London 78.39
43 University of Lincoln 78.28
44 University Centre Peterborough 78.18
45 Glasgow Caledonian University 78.14
46 University of York 77.92
47 University of Derby 77.66
48 University of the Highlands and Islands 77.64
49 University of West London 77.4
50 University of Worcester 77.2
51 University of the West of England 77.05
52 University of Hull 76.95
53 London School of Economics and Political Science 76.86
54 Conservatoire for Dance and Drama 76.7
55 York St John University 76.69
56 University of East Anglia 76.66
57 University of Exeter 76.47
58 Coventry University 76.05
59 University of Leeds 75.99
60 Arden University  75.95
61 University of Leicester 75.95
62 University of Kent 75.88
63 Cardiff Metropolitan University 75.83
64 University of Nottingham 75.78
65 UCL 75.72
66 University College Birmingham 75.42
67 Queen Mary University of London 75.4
68 Wrexham Glyndwr University 75.32
69 Birkbeck, University of London 75.19
=70 Aston University 75
=70 Courtauld Institute of Art 75
72 University of Sussex 74.98
73 Newman University 74.93
74 University of Plymouth 74.9
75 University of Wales Trinity Saint David 74.87
76 University of Bradford 74.86
77 University of Bristol 74.75
78 Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts 74.73
79 Staffordshire University 74.72
80 Bangor University 74.55
81 University of Gloucestershire 74.5
82 SOAS University of London 74.41
83 Leeds Beckett University 74.39
84 University of Reading 74.27
85 University of Hertfordshire 74.14
86 Lincoln College 74.14
87 Edge Hill University 73.91
88 Trent University 73.88
89 Liverpool Hope University 73.74
90 University of the West of Scotland 73.69
91 University of London Institute in Paris 73.68
92 King's College London 73.42
93 Royal Veterinary College 73.39
94 University of Roehampton  73.05
95 University of Chester 72.95
96 Liverpool John Moores University 72.9
97 Kingston University 72.89
98 Falmouth University 72.49
99 Norwich University of the Arts 72.46
100 University of Suffolk 72.44
=101 Arts University Bournemouth 72.37
=101 University of Greenwich 72.37
103 Cardiff University 72.29
104 Birmingham City University 72.2
105 University of Essex 72.16
106 University of East London 72.1
107 Solent University, Southampton 72.07
108 The London Institute of Banking and Finance 72.06
109 University of South Wales 71.97
110 University of Birmingham 71.9
111 Bishop Grosseteste University 71.84
112 Oxford Brookes University 71.73
113 Bath Spa University 71.7
114 University of Manchester 71.35
115 University of Portsmouth 71.3
116 Royal Agricultural University 71.28
117 University of Westminster 71.23
118 University of Edinburgh 71.07
119 University of Wolverhampton 70.66
120 Sheffield Hallam University 70.46
121 Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama 70
122 Buckinghamshire New University 69.96
123 University of Winchester 69.88
124 Manchester Metropolitan University 69.87
125 Newcastle University 69.49
126 Northumbria University 69.29
127 University of Cumbria 69.08
=128 Leeds Conservatoire 68.85
=128 Middlesex University 68.85
130 University of Bedfordshire 68.6
131 University of Central Lancashire 68.43
132 University of Salford 68.42
133 University of Huddersfield 68.32
134 City, University of London 68.21
135 University College of Osteopathy 67.92
136 University of Northampton 67.68
137 University for the Creative Arts 66.84
138 BPP University 66.54
139 London South Bank University 66.32
140 Trinity University 65.77
141 Canterbury Christ Church University 65.28
142 De Montfort University 65.24
143 Leeds Arts University 63.84
144 University of Brighton 62.97
145 Goldsmiths, University of London 61.54
146 St. George's, University of London 61.33
147 Bournemouth University 61.24
148 Brunel University London 58.62
149 University of the Arts, London 58.29
150 Ravensbourne 54.14
151 Glasgow School of Art 52.73

 

 

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