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The results of the 2020 UK-wide National Student Survey (NSS) show that student satisfaction levels at Scottish universities are the highest in the UK. Scotland is also the only part of the UK where, for full-time and part-time students together, overall student satisfaction has risen.
Published today, the figures show that, overall, 85% of students in Scottish universities who responded to the survey are satisfied with the quality of their course – up from 84% last year. For UK universities as a whole, the equivalent figure is 83%, marginally down from 84% last year.
The National Student Survey is the biggest national survey of student opinion, and this year’s survey represents the views of over 311,432 students UK-wide, with 69% of eligible students taking part.
This year’s NSS was open to students between early January and the end of April, overlapping with the start of the COVID-19 crisis and the beginning of lockdown. Analysis published alongside the main report found no evidence that the reliability of the results had been affected by the impact of COVID-19.
Additionally, for full-time students in Scotland, the survey found that 90% agreed that staff were good at explaining things and 87% said that they were able to contact staff when they needed to.
The data from the National Student Survey will be published on the DiscoverUni website later this year, providing valuable information to guide potential students’ choices about where and what to study.
