The National Student Survey results for 2017 have now been published. 

The National Student Survey is a key measure of student satisfaction and provides the opportunity for final year students to give their opinions on their course and their experience at Sheffield Hallam. It is a story of significant progress this year, with Hallam moving up to 46th among 121 higher education institutions in England, putting us in the top 50 universities in the country.

We lead the sector for satisfaction with learning resources after being ranked 8th with a score of 90 per cent.  A number of our courses received 100 per cent satisfaction including mechanical engineering, fashion, sociology, human biology, forensic accounting and international business.

It is testament to the commitment and hard work of our staff that the university is rated above the sector average for England and specifically in the three TEF measures of course teaching, assessment and feedback, and academic support.

A total of 85 per cent of Sheffield Hallam students agreed with the NSS statement ‘Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course’ which represents a one per cent increase on last year’s results.

Across the country overall satisfaction fell to 84 per cent meaning Sheffield Hallam is above the national average. An excellent student experience will continue to be a key priority for Sheffield Hallam.

Summary of Results

• Overall Satisfaction: improved from 84% to 85%; SHU rank improved from 81st to 46th; HWB maintained result at 86%.
• Teaching On My Course: maintained result at 86%; SHU rank improved from 74th to 42nd; HWB fell from 89 % to 88%.
• Learning Opportunities: New category, SHU result 86%; SHU rank 20th; HWB 90%.
• Assessment & Feedback: improved from 72% to 74%; SHU rank improved from 78th to 52nd; HWB fell from 77% to 76%. 
• Academic Support: maintained result at 82%; SHU rank improved from 59th to 38th; HWB maintained at 84%.
• Organisation & Management: result fell from 76% to 74%; SHU rank improved from 88th to 82nd; HWB maintained at 72%. 
• Learning Resources: maintained result at 90%; SHU rank improved from 22nd to 8th; HWB improved from 92% to 93%.
• Learning Community: New category, SHU result 81%; SHU rank 33rd: HWB 84%.
• Student Voice: New category, SHU result 70%*; SHU rank 56th; HWB 72%.

HWB has seen significant gains in Nursing and Social Work. 17 of the 27 courses reporting are above 88% (four being 88 or 89% just under the 90% target). This is a very good achievement for HWB and a great platform from which to improve further.

Other information about NSS results

Sector subject results are not published when the response rate is lower than 50%. More institutions than usual failed to meet this publication threshold, either at institution level or for various subjects. This is likely an effect of the Students’ Union boycott of NSS 2017.

At the institution (all subjects) level, nine universities from our benchmark group of 130 institutions failed to reach the publication threshold: Bristol University, Cambridge University, King’s College London, Liverpool University, Manchester University, Oxford University, Sheffield University, SOAS University of London, University College London.

The absence of these institutions, along with other factors may have contributed to the decrease in the sector median.

For more detailed NSS results visit The Source.