Success in National Student Survey
An overwhelming number of students have given top marks to the University of Brighton, including its campus in Hastings, according to a national survey.
Published August 2011
Overall, the number of students giving the university the highest rating increased by four points to 83 per cent and more than 90 per cent of students gave the highest ratings in a wide range of subjects, including those taught in Hastings such as social science.
Marylynn Fyvie-Gauld, course leader for Applied Social Science at the university’s campus in Hastings, said: “This is praise indeed from this wonderful cohort of students.
“Gaining degrees for the students has been shown to lead to the most amazing changes not only in their lives but in the lives of their families and friends. They are themselves the most genuinely wonderful advertisement of how education transforms lives.”
The National Student Survey (NSS), published in August 2011 by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, showed that nearly two thirds of University of Brighton students responded to 22 questions seeking their views on their university education.
In almost every category, more students said they were satisfied. They praised staff for making subjects interesting, explaining them well, for being enthusiastic and making courses intellectually stimulating.
An increasing number of students thought their courses had made them more confident and had helped improve their communication skills. The majority thought courses were well organised and were run smoothly.
The NSS gathers feedback on students' perception of their courses from all UK universities to help inform future applicants where to choose venues for higher education, and to contribute to public accountability.
Almost 4,000 final-year students at Brighton were asked for their views on six areas of student experience including teaching, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources and personal development.
Professor Julian Crampton, University of Brighton's Vice-Chancellor, said: "We are delighted more students than ever have said they are happy with their courses and I’m very pleased our staff have received such high ratings - recognition they richly deserve.
“Students value the relevance and quality of the courses we provide at the University of Brighton. Each year our students graduate equipped to make a significant contribution to economic and social development through professions as diverse as civil engineering, medicine, graphic design, accountancy, nursing and teaching.
“The university provides an excellent teaching and learning environment for students and this survey is a valuable tool in helping us understand what is working well and where we need to improve. We shall be studying the results in greater detail and feeding back some of the changes we have introduced as a result of the survey to our students.
"We would like to thank all our final year students who completed the survey and all staff for contributing to the quality of the student experience."
