Understanding the surveys

The survey is UK-wide and is conducted by Ipsos, an independent research agency on behalf of the Office for Students. Final-year undergraduates are invited to participate in the survey and give their views on all aspects of their academic experience. The core questions cover:

• Teaching 
• Learning opportunities
• Marking and assessment
• Academic support
• Organisation and management
• Learning resources
• Student voice

• Your views matter and help us to continuously develop and improve - see some of the changes made as a result of student feedback
• You'll also be helping others - the NSS results are made publicly available through Discover Uni to help prospective students, their families, and advisors make informed decisions about where and what to study
• As a thank you for completing the survey, you will be in entered into a prize draw to win £250 - there are two prize draw opportunities, and the winners will be announced in May

When the survey opens, if eligible, you can complete the NSS online. You will also receive a launch invitation email, followed by two reminders from the University. Ipsos will also contact you to complete the survey, initially by email and then by phone and SMS until you respond.

You’ll be asked to choose your institution, type in the 'University of Derby', and follow the instructions. Ipsos will ask for further information about you, so they know it is you completing. You can view further information about the Ipsos privacy statement and FAQs on their website.

You can check your eligibility by going to the student surveys checker and adding your student ID number. If eligible it will redirect you to the survey. No data is kept.

Please note, only the first time that you complete the survey will be registered. If there is anything else you want to tell us after you’ve completed the survey (or at any point during the year), you can email us at students@derby.ac.uk.

• The University doesn't see any individual response - please give your honest opinions
• The University receives aggregate anonymous data where at least 10 respondents have completed the survey in any given breakdown (eg by programme, department, etc)
• All free text comments are redacted by Ipsos and names of people are deleted so individuals cannot be identified   
• Ipsos run the prize draw and notify the University of the winner at the end of the survey - the Student Engagement and Enhancement team will then get in touch with the lucky winners

PTES is a national survey for postgraduate taught students run in conjunction with Advance HE. The PTES runs annually from February to June. Over one hundred universities and colleges take part. This means we can compare your experience with similar postgraduate students at other institutions. Your feedback is important. We use the findings to improve our courses. Look at some of the changes made as a result of student feedback. 

PTES covers students’ experiences in these key areas:

• Teaching and learning
• Engagement and course challenge
• Community and sense of belonging
• Assessment and feedback
• Organisation and management
• Learning resources
• Support
• Skills development
• Overall satisfaction

The questionnaire takes around 15 minutes to complete.

PTES is your chance to tell us your thoughts about your course. The results help us compare how we are doing with other institutions, make changes that will improve what we do in the future, and keep doing the things that you value. This will help improve the experience of students like you in the future. 

As a thank you for completing the survey, you will be entered into a prize draw to win £250. There are two prize draw opportunities, and the winners will be announced in June.

You will receive an email with a link to the questionnaire in early February. Simply click on the link and complete the survey. The survey is open until June.

You can check if you are eligible by going to the student surveys checker and adding your student ID number. If eligible, it will redirect you to the survey. No data is kept.

Note that you will not yet be eligible to complete the PTES if you began your course this January or later in this academic year, or if you are an online learning student that started in September of this academic year. We want to give you more time to settle into your studies. You can still however feed back about your experience at any time by contacting students@derby.ac.uk.

• Your survey response is confidential to the Student Engagement and Enhancement team processing the results and no reporting outside of this team will identify any individual
• Any results communicated to teaching staff will be aggregated and anonymised
• The survey asks that any comments you make should not identify yourself or any specific members of staff
• For further information, see our feedback privacy notice

The PQ provides an opportunity for undergraduate students in their Foundation stage, stage 1 or 2 to share views on their academic experience. Your feedback is important, and we use the findings to improve our courses. Look at some of the changes made as a result of student feedback.

The PQ runs annually at the end of programme sessions. 

The PQ covers students’ academic experiences in these key areas:

• Teaching
• Assessment
• Resources
• Development and skills
• Support and advice

The questionnaire takes around 5 minutes to complete.

The PQ is your chance to tell us your thoughts about your course. The results help us to make changes that will improve what we do in the future and keep doing the things that you value.

The PQ is analysed alongside your Module Evaluation Questionnaire (MEQ) feedback to support with the continuous review and enhancements of your programme curricula.

You will receive an email with a link to the questionnaire when you are eligible to complete it. Simply click on the link and complete the survey.

You can also access your active PQ directly through the Surveys tile on UDo or via Single Sign-On at the Student Surveys Portal.

Your survey response is confidential and will be held securely. None of your teaching staff, nor anyone in your School or College will be able to identify you from your responses (unless you personally choose to identify yourself in your open comments).

Results will be reported back to relevant staff as aggregated data, including any open comments which will be grouped by question. Your individual set of responses cannot be seen by academic staff. However, please note that your comments will not be edited before staff see the set of all responses. So, if you refer to your own personal circumstances, this could make such a comment identifiable.

For further information, see our feedback privacy notice.

PRES is aimed at students studying on Postgraduate Research programmes. PRES is an external survey run by Advance HE which runs biennially from February to May. Eligible students will receive a unique link to complete the survey through their Unimail account. PRES concentrates on your course and includes questions about:

• Supervision
• Resources
• Research culture
• Community
• Progress and assessment
• Responsibilities
• Support
• Research skills and professional development

The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is your chance to tell us your thoughts about your course. The results help us compare how we are doing with other institutions, to make changes that will improve what we do in future and to keep doing the things that you value. This will help improve the experience of students like you in the future. 

Upon completion of the PRES, you will also be entered into a prize draw with a chance to win £250. 

You will receive an email with a link to the questionnaire when you are eligible to complete it. Simply click on the link and complete the survey. The survey will be open to complete until May. 

You can also access the survey via our website.

• Your survey response is confidential to the Student Engagement and Enhancement team processing the results and no reporting outside of this team will identify any individual. 
• Any results communicated to teaching staff will be aggregated and anonymised.
• The survey asks that any comments you make should not identify yourself or any specific members of staff.
• For further information, see our feedback privacy notice.