University of Derby celebrates best ever student satisfaction score

Students at the University of Derby have given their institution its highest ever rating as part of the independent National Student Survey (NSS) results, released today (Wednesday, August 12).

The statistics revealed that overall 88% of students at the University of Derby are satisfied with their course – placing it higher than the national average and improving on its position last year.

Derby has also increased scores for the quality of teaching of courses (90%, up 2% on last year), assessment and feedback (79%, up 4% on last year), personal development (86%, up 1% on last year) and academic support (85%, up 2% on last year).

Eight courses at the University achieved 100% satisfaction, amongst them were:

• Graphic Design
• Fashion Studies
• Professional Culinary Arts
• Tourism Management
• Child and Youth Studies
• Events Management
• Diagnostic Radiography
• Geography

This year more than half of the University’s publishable programmes (where at least 50% of students responded to the survey) had an overall satisfaction score above 90%.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Philip Plowden, said: “The University of Derby has always had a commitment to ensuring that our students have an outstanding experience while at university, so it is pleasing to see that the results have again improved this year, putting the University ahead of the sector for student satisfaction.

“It is particularly satisfying that so many programmes have achieved 100% satisfaction. This excellent achievement is a credit to all our staff.”

The survey is conducted annually by Ipsos MORI for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) which asks mostly final year students at UK universities to rate how satisfied they are overall with their course and also specifically with its academic support, learning resources, teaching, lecturer feedback and other qualities.

The University’s ‘employability’ rate also recently rose to 96.9% of graduates, who are in work or further study within six months of completing their degree course – one of the best results in England.

The University of Derby’s Clearing hotline is already open to callers, on 01332 592015.

For more information on the 2015 NSS Survey, visit www.thestudentsurvey.com