St Andrews top in the UK for student satisfaction

The University of St Andrews offers students the best academic experience in the United Kingdom, according to the results of The National Student Survey 2017 published today (Wednesday 8 August 2017).

The National Student Survey (NSS) named St Andrews the UK’s top mainstream university, the ninth time in the past 11 years that the Scottish university has been at the very top of the comprehensive analysis of the views of the United Kingdom’s student community.

A high-profile census of nearly half a million students, the NSS is undertaken independently by Ipsos MORI and evaluates how satisfied students are with the quality of their higher education experience.

94% of St Andrews final year students surveyed gave the University top marks for the quality of the learning and teaching experience. The survey reflects student responses to core questions relating to academic support, learning resources, teaching, management, assessment, personal development and satisfaction.

The NSS 2017 marked St Andrews first in the UK for 12 of the survey’s 27 areas of analysis:

• Providing intellectually stimulating courses
• Explaining issues clearly to students
• Making subjects interesting
• Opportunities to explore and develop ideas
• Accessible and contactable staff
• Good organisation
• Effective communication
• Fair marking and assessment
• Effective timetabling
• Opportunity to give feedback
• Feeling part of the community
• Overall satisfaction with the quality of academic experience

Scottish universities have again performed very strongly in the survey, with seven ranked among the UK’s top 50.

St Andrews Principal, Professor Sally Mapstone, said: “St Andrews students have long recognised the exceptional quality of learning and teaching and overall student experience on offer at our University. We work in partnership with our students to ensure we continue to provide the very best in facilities, support and learning resources for our students. These results demonstrate that those students joining our academic family in 2017 have made the right choice in calling St Andrews home.

“Scottish universities are setting excellent standards in UK education, and we are delighted to lead in the NSS which is a positive endorsement and demonstrates our deep rooted commitment to academic excellence and the student experience.”

Lewis Wood, President of the St Andrews Students’ Association, said: “These fantastic results demonstrate that the St Andrews student experience is truly outstanding. Both the University and the Students’ Association work hard to continue to improve upon the world-class student experience we provide to every student. I feel very proud to have been a part of this and I hope this news encourages students from around the globe to continue to apply and contribute to the University of St Andrews.”

The NSS results follow a strong performance by St Andrews in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), a new assessment of the quality of teaching and the undergraduate experience at universities across the UK. St Andrews secured a Gold TEF Award, the highest possible.

Photograph shows Student Union President Lewis Wood and the University Sabbatical Officers in St Salvator’s Quad at the University of St Andrews (left to right): Director of Student Development and Activities (DoSDA), Charlotte Flatley; Director of Wellbeing (DoWell), Claire Shirley; Student President, Lewis Wood; Director of Events and Services (DoES), Hannah Jacobs; Director of Education, Zach Davis

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Issued by the University of St Andrews Communications Office. Contact Christine Tudhope on 01334 467 320 / 07526 624 243 or [email protected].