National Student Survey - Case Studies

Case Studies

These brief case studies offer some examples of how individual student unions have responded to, and used their NSS results. They illustrate how the NSS can be a powerful catalyst for change and how these results can make a positive difference.

University of Westminster Students’ Union
After receiving poor results, Westminster Students' Union met with the school management board to discuss the NSS, and highlighted both the positive and negative aspects of its results. The union looked at its open comments to look for patterns existing outside of the statistical results and compared its data with those of its peers in other institutions, to establish a case for change, which eventually led to new academic models being put forward as a response to students concerns, promising less assessment and more credits for their work. Following this, the union sent out a link to students explaining the positive changes that had been made on the back of the NSS data, as they felt it was crucial to demonstrate to students how their feedback had been used and the effectiveness of their contributions in the NSS, they felt that “…students didn’t often make the link between their feedback and the changes made.” In addition, the NSS helped to give a new focus and prioritisation to the issue of assessment and feedback and the implementation of a new calendar, extended opening hours and changes to their personal tutoring system.

Warwick Students Union
Warwick used its student staff liaison committee system to encourage students to get involved in the NSS and to disseminate the results and discuss them, after a joint message and a summary of results was issued on the results from the Union and university, the results were discussed at departmental and faculty meetings. This joint approach from both union and institution led to a number of new projects to look at the personal tutoring system, feedback and assessment methods, and faculty quality enhancement fora.

University of Glamorgan Students’ Union
The University of Glamorgan Students' Union used its NSS results as a starting point to identify areas to focus on for its student written submission, and worked closely with its institution to use the results to provide an accurate overview of the student perspective at Glamorgan. They used the results alongside internal institutional surveys as well as feedback from students, course reps and facebook available to the union.

UCL Union
UCL Union used its NSS results to inform its campaign for 24 hour library access, entitled "UCL students do it 24/7 as well". Though the institution already ran an internal library survey each year, they used the NSS results on related areas to reinforce the findings from this existing survey and push the university toward taking action on a long-standing promise to increase opening hours, finally resulting in extended hours.

University of Central Lancashire
UCLAN Students’ Union used the comments section of the NSS to provide evidence for its student written submission for its institutional audit. In addition, NSS results were also used to isolate one campus' dissatisfaction with library opening hours, and by NSS feedback, results from other questionnaires and hard campaigning, the union was eventually able to pressure the university into opening the library on Sundays.

Reading University Students' Union
As part of their preparation for their university’s institutional audit, Reading University Students' Union conducted a huge feedback survey of more than 1,500 students. The union combined this with student focus groups, campaigns research, the international students' barometer national survey and the National Student Survey.

As part of their submission to the audit, the union also produced a student-focussed video to supplement their written content, allowing auditors the chance to see Reading students' views clearly and highlighting the student perspective in a more interesting and innovative way.

The video, made by students is available on Facebook and the union's own website.

University of East Anglia
By looking at its NSS results by department, and using internal survey results, UEA Students' Union were able to use its results to demonstrate how students with anonymous marking were happier with their assessment and feedback mechanisms than those without. This added powerful impetus to a long-standing campaign for anonymous marking that began in 1999 and finally managed to demonstrate a powerful case for change in 2005 when the university agreed in principle to change to an anonymous marking system. Initially it seemed that the battle had been won, however, the institution later managed to secure a delay in its implementation and students were still waiting to see the change that they had been promised in 2007.

Not content, however, to allow the university to back down on its commitment, new officers took up the campaign and seized their opportunity to push the issue to the top of the agenda. After a lengthy battle and much resistance from academic departments, officers managed to convince the university to reconsider and implement anonymous marking, albeit in multiple stages, within the coming next few years. Officers involved in the campaign learnt that "...it is important to strike whilst the iron is hot and winning in principle is not the same as winning in practice - campaigns need to be followed through each year to ensure that change happens and secure a win for students.”

University of Sussex
The students of Sussex did not give their university a positive assessment during the 2005 NSS - the institution found itself ranked in the bottom 25 per cent, and faired particularly badly at academic support and learning resources (especially with regard to library facilities).

USSU (University of Sussex Students' Union) saw this as an opportunity and incorporated the data into its ‘Sort us out’ campaign - a vocal demand that the institution address failings throughout the university. This coincided with the union submitting a motion of ‘no confidence’ to the university council, highlighting the university’s poor administration and financial mismanagement. Along with other sources of information, such as their QAA audit report and case studies, NSS data contributed as evidence to the strong student submission to Sussex University council.

While their fight reached the national press, the institution took the tenants of the student submission seriously and were quick to respond with a series of commitments and developments, including:

• Efforts to increase the library budget and resources
• Enforcement of minimum number of contact hours for all students
• Commitment to ensuring effective training for all Associated Tutors
• Reform of the failing personal tutor system
• Commitment to creating a Student Charter setting out minimum standards of support and feedback (highlighted in the NSS as a particular problem) for students
• Agreed to a significant programme of investment to refurbish and re-equip teaching space and other facilities

More recently, focus groups have been set up in both the failing and best faculties to compare and contrast experiences and share best practice. The findings have been used to support a campaign for a commitment by the institution to increased numbers of academic advice sessions across the board, and improved accessibility of information regarding assessment for students.

University of the Arts London
University of the Arts London did not fare well in the NSS 2005 results - it rated poorly in all areas against its peers and on a national scale.

In the months following the release of data, the university decided to make several weighty changes specifically focusing on enhancing the student experience.
These developments included:

• Creating a centralised student services area (or ‘student hub’) incorporating new offices for the union
• Introducing a pathfinder’s week (aka fresher’s week)
• Establishing a job shop
• Extending library and learning resources, with some areas having 24–hour access
• Introducing an institution-wide uniform student feedback system based on the NSS questions and insisting all departments create action plans in response to their results.

Although the institution has not formally acknowledged the link between these introductions and the NSS, the union has little doubt that they are a direct response to the poor results being made public.

University of Leeds
Leeds University Union has been very pro-active in its use of the NSS data. The exec broke down the NSS by faculty and provided all its union academic reps (aka faculty reps) with the information, highlighting both the highs and lows. This equipped the reps to confidently enter faculty committee meetings with a solid body of data, mapping the issues that needed to be addressed and where good practice could be identified. This enhanced the reps ability to contribute to new initiatives, resulting in significant improvements and developments, particularly so in feedback and timetabling issues.

Surrey University Students’ Union
Surrey University made a number of changes on the back of the NSS, particularly in the area of assessment and feedback which is a national problem. The NSS also added support to an ongoing campaign by the students’ union in this area. The final result was an overhaul of the entire assessment and feedback area at Surrey. The university implemented a new feedback policy, changed the number of module credits for undergraduates and postgraduates and addressed other measures relating to the inconsistencies in feedback with an aim to improving the quality of the student experience at Surrey.

Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University Students’ Union used the results of the NSS to highlight poor satisfaction with feedback among students, and ran a postcard campaign to find best and worst practice in terms of feedback within the institution. There was an overwhelming response, with students requesting that exam scripts should be returned with feedback included on them. The students’ union ran a campaign where this message was attached to students’ exam scripts with stickers. The university has now agreed to return these scripts and is also using the feedback policy composed by the union.

How have you used student feedback?

Tell us how you’ve used the NSS, or the results of any type of research project into student feedback so that we can share your tips and successes with others.