National Student Survey 2021: overall satisfaction results show varied impact of Covid-19

By Joy.Hunter@tim…, 19 July, 2021

The results of the UK’s National Student Survey 2021 are in, offering insight into how Covid-19 has affected the university study experience.

About 330,000 students from hundreds of universities, colleges and other providers across the UK completed the 2021 National Student Survey. This is up from the 310,000 students who answered the survey in 2020.

Survey questions covered all areas of academic life, including the quality of teaching, feedback on work, and learning resources.

The small but mighty University of St Andrews was a close second, with 93.34 per cent.

Overall, 75 per cent of UK students agreed that they were satisfied with the quality of their course, a significant decrease from 83 per cent last year.

Despite the sector-wide drop, satisfaction rates differed among courses and providers.

Sharp declines in overall satisfaction came from students in subject areas such as agriculture, architecture and creative and performing arts. This perhaps reflects the difficulty that these hands-on courses had transitioning to remote learning.

Meanwhile, satisfaction rates barely changed from previous years for students on distance learning courses that were established pre-pandemic.

The Office for Students, which manages the survey, included an extra set of questions specific to studying during the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 180,000 students answered, with 80 per cent agreeing that their institution had provided sufficient protective equipment, social distancing measures and distance learning opportunities.

However, the survey suggests that the availability of learning resources for students has been significantly strained over the past year. On IT facilities, 72 per cent of students agreed that they supported their learning well, compared with 83 per cent last year. Meanwhile, 75 per cent said library resources were sufficient to support their learning, compared with 87 per cent in 2020.

Satisfaction scores for mental health support were among the lowest, with only 42 per cent of students agreeing that their university or college was doing enough to support their mental well-being throughout the pandemic.

The chief executive of the Office for Students, Nicola Dandridge, agreed that while the circumstances of the pandemic were exceptional, low satisfaction with mental health services was a concern. “Consideration should be given to what more can be done to ensure students are appropriately supported,” she said.

Explore the full table of universities and their ranking in the survey below.

NSS 2021 Rank	University	Overall Satisfaction Score (%)
1	Brighton and Sussex Medical School	95.19
2	University of St Andrews	93.34
3	The Open University	88.24
4	University of Bath	86.06
5	University of Strathclyde	85.15
6	Loughborough University	85.11
7	University of Law	84.97
8	Royal College of Music	84.75
9	University of Aberdeen	84.54
10	Imperial College London	84.46
11	Harper Adams University	84.22
12	University of Glasgow	83.68
13	Robert Gordon University	83.54
14	University of Warwick	83.24
15	Aberystwyth University	83.21
16	Swansea University	82.8
17	Lancaster University	82.67
18	Hull York Medical School	82.54
19	University of Buckingham	82.11
20	Plymouth Marjon University	81.55
21	Edinburgh Napier University	81.08
22	St Mary's University	80.97
23	Durham University	80.86
24	Ulster University	80.85
25	University of Chichester	80.78
26	University of Stirling	80.76
27	Keele University	80.63
28	University of Surrey	80.48
29	Hartpury University	80.27
30	London Metropolitan University	80.03
31	University of Bolton	79.91
32	University of Sheffield	79.55
33	Heriot-Watt University	79.36
34	University of Southampton	79.34
35	Richmond, American International University in London	79.1
36	Queen Margaret University	79.04
37	Abertay University	79.02
38	University of Sunderland	78.91
39	University of Dundee	78.77
40	University of Liverpool	78.65
41	Queen's University Belfast	78.63
42	Regent's University London	78.39
43	University of Lincoln	78.28
44	University Centre Peterborough	78.18
45	Glasgow Caledonian University	78.14
46	University of York	77.92
47	University of Derby	77.66
48	University of the Highlands and Islands	77.64
49	University of West London	77.4
50	University of Worcester	77.2
51	University of the West of England	77.05
52	University of Hull	76.95
53	London School of Economics and Political Science	76.86
54	Conservatoire for Dance and Drama	76.7
55	York St John University	76.69
56	University of East Anglia	76.66
57	University of Exeter	76.47
58	Coventry University	76.05
59	University of Leeds	75.99
60	Arden University	75.95
61	University of Leicester	75.95
62	University of Kent	75.88
63	Cardiff Metropolitan University	75.83
64	University of Nottingham	75.78
65	UCL	75.72
66	University College Birmingham	75.42
67	Queen Mary University of London	75.4
68	Wrexham Glyndwr University	75.32
69	Birkbeck, University of London	75.19
=70	Aston University	75
=70	Courtauld Institute of Art	75
72	University of Sussex	74.98
73	Newman University	74.93
74	University of Plymouth	74.9
75	University of Wales Trinity Saint David	74.87
76	University of Bradford	74.86
77	University of Bristol	74.75
78	Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts	74.73
79	Staffordshire University	74.72
80	Bangor University	74.55
81	University of Gloucestershire	74.5
82	SOAS University of London	74.41
83	Leeds Beckett University	74.39
84	University of Reading	74.27
85	University of Hertfordshire	74.14
86	Lincoln College	74.14
87	Edge Hill University	73.91
88	Trent University	73.88
89	Liverpool Hope University	73.74
90	University of the West of Scotland	73.69
91	University of London Institute in Paris	73.68
92	King's College London	73.42
93	Royal Veterinary College	73.39
94	University of Roehampton	73.05
95	University of Chester	72.95
96	Liverpool John Moores University	72.9
97	Kingston University	72.89
98	Falmouth University	72.49
99	Norwich University of the Arts	72.46
100	University of Suffolk	72.44
=101	Arts University Bournemouth	72.37
=101	University of Greenwich	72.37
103	Cardiff University	72.29
104	Birmingham City University	72.2
105	University of Essex	72.16
106	University of East London	72.1
107	Solent University, Southampton	72.07
108	The London Institute of Banking and Finance	72.06
109	University of South Wales	71.97
110	University of Birmingham	71.9
111	Bishop Grosseteste University	71.84
112	Oxford Brookes University	71.73
113	Bath Spa University	71.7
114	University of Manchester	71.35
115	University of Portsmouth	71.3
116	Royal Agricultural University	71.28
117	University of Westminster	71.23
118	University of Edinburgh	71.07
119	University of Wolverhampton	70.66
120	Sheffield Hallam University	70.46
121	Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama	70
122	Buckinghamshire New University	69.96
123	University of Winchester	69.88
124	Manchester Metropolitan University	69.87
125	Newcastle University	69.49
126	Northumbria University	69.29
127	University of Cumbria	69.08
=128	Leeds Conservatoire	68.85
=128	Middlesex University	68.85
130	University of Bedfordshire	68.6
131	University of Central Lancashire	68.43
132	University of Salford	68.42
133	University of Huddersfield	68.32
134	City, University of London	68.21
135	University College of Osteopathy	67.92
136	University of Northampton	67.68
137	University for the Creative Arts	66.84
138	BPP University	66.54
139	London South Bank University	66.32
140	Trinity University	65.77
141	Canterbury Christ Church University	65.28
142	De Montfort University	65.24
143	Leeds Arts University	63.84
144	University of Brighton	62.97
145	Goldsmiths, University of London	61.54
146	St. George's, University of London	61.33
147	Bournemouth University	61.24
148	Brunel University London	58.62
149	University of the Arts, London	58.29
150	Ravensbourne	54.14
151	Glasgow School of Art	52.73

National Student Survey 2021: overall satisfaction results show varied impact of Covid-19

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