Cause For Celebration For University Courses
29 September 2009
University of Derby's own Feedback campaign.
Several academic subject areas at the University of Derby have received excellent satisfaction ratings from students as part of the National Student Survey (NSS).
The NSS allows final year students nationally to provide anonymous feedback about their course and institution and in particular, how they rate the quality of teaching and assessment on the course.
Headline figures from the survey were published by HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) on August 6, which showed that overall satisfaction in Derby's courses had improved by three per cent to 79 per cent, compared with last year. This was the seventh best improvement in the sector which has seen an overall dip in satisfaction by one per cent.
On September 29, the full 2009 National Student Survey results will be placed on the Unistats website for general view. This site offers independent advice on the higher education options available to prospective students.
And the detailed results give cause for celebration in particular for a number of Derby's courses when rated against other universities in the sector in the specified subject area:
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Initial Teacher Training - 96% satisfaction
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Biology - 96% satisfaction
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History - 95% satisfaction
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Law - 95% satisfaction
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Forensic and Archaeological Science - 92% satisfaction
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Physical Geography and Environmental Science - 90% satisfaction
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Academic studies in Education - 90% satisfaction
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Initial Teacher Training - ranked joint third out of 58
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Law - ranked joint seventh out of 93
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Biology - ranked joint seventh out of 68
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Forensic and Archaeological Sciences - ranked joint ninth out of 32.
When the initial results were published last month, Derby's overall position in the sector had improved from 126th out of 148 universities last year to 107th out of 154 universities this year.
This rose in tandem with Derby's overall satisfaction score out of five which has improved by 2.1 per cent to 3.96, whereas overall, the sector has noticed a slip of 0.4 per cent overall satisfaction.
At the time, University of Derby Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Coyne said: "We are encouraged by the latest results of the National Student Survey which show our performance has improved.
"Student satisfaction is critical to the mission of the University to be the learner's first choice university for quality and opportunity, and this is a positive result to continue to build on.
"We are pleased to be moving in the right direction but we are not yet satisfied - our students deserve the best!"
Another key factor in this year's results has been an increase of 4.2% on last year with the response rate for students filling in the survey at Derby to 60.8%.
Sue Morrison, Senior Assistant Registrar (Student Experience), at the University of Derby, said: "We have all worked hard to enhance the student experience, act on feedback from the 2008 NSS and improve response rates.
"This was a great team effort and has resulted in very positive feedback from the students.
"There are fantastic results for Initial Teacher Training, Law, Biology and History. A number of other subject areas have also noticed a significant improvement in satisfaction ratings including Social Work, and subjects aligned to Medicine, Forensic and Archaeological Sciences and Management Studies."
And the University of Derby's Director of Marketing Peter Allen, said: "For us the National Student Satisfaction Survey is the most important measure of how we are doing. It's based on the opinion of our actual students, unlike the league tables, and our students are clearly very happy with what they're getting at Derby."
The work does not stop and now the University's Student Experience Strategy Group will be reviewing results, and working with faculties and departments, to respond to the 2009 NSS feedback and aim to further enhance the student experience for this academic year.
The NSS gauges the views of final year students, while the University of Derby's Student Experience Team also manages a successful Feedback Campaign which surveys current students about their views on life at Derby and what can be improved for the following year.
Results of this campaign are also presented to the University's management so that actions can be taken at the very top to make students' experiences at the University even more fulfilling.
You can view the full NSS results on the Unistats website at www.unistats.org from September 29.
For more information about this news release, contact Deputy Head of Corporate Relations Simon Redfern on 01332 591942 or 07748 920038 or email: s.redfern@derby@derby.ac.uk
