Aberystwyth University has been ranked best in Wales for student satisfaction and second in the UK. Results are based on responses from final year undergraduates who in 2022 would have seen their courses and university life disrupted by the Covid pandemic.
Results from the latest National Student Survey (NSS) mean that Aberystwyth has come top in Wales and featured as one of the top 10 universities in the UK for student satisfaction in each of the last seven editions of the survey.
Results are based on questionnaires to students put out by universities and this year's cover a period of disruption during the pandemic again. The National Student Survey (NSS) is an annual survey of nearly half a million students in universities, colleges and other providers across the UK.
Final-year undergraduate students are asked to score their university across a wide range of measures of student satisfaction. They include quality of teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, learning community and the student voice.
The final question “overall I am satisfied with my course” places Aberystwyth number one in Wales and second in the UK after the University of St Andrews.
Overall the survey shows student satisfaction among undergraduates at college and university has risen slightly in Wales this year, with 77% of final year students saying that they were satisfied with their course this year. This is up from last year and is slightly ahead of the UK as a whole
Responding to her university's place in the survey Professor Elizabeth Treasure, Vice-Chancellor at Aberystwyth University, said: “These results are excellent and reflect the dedication of our staff to providing the best possible learning experience under difficult and challenging circumstances that have extended over the best part of two years.
“Their work has been matched by our students’ willingness to be flexible and adaptive to the changes they have experienced during this remarkable period, and their commitment to learning. By working together, we achieve great things, and this is reflected in this result which underlines once more that Aberystwyth University offers one of the best student experiences in the UK.”
Aisleen Sturrock, President of Aberystwyth Students’ Union said: “The past three years have been very challenging for students and staff and the way everyone has worked together to make sure that the student experience is at the heart of our decisions is reflected in this result.”
How universities in Wales compare on student satisfaction when students were asked to agree “overall I am satisfied with my course:
- Aberystwyth 86.97%
- Bangor 80.55%
- Swansea 78.33%
- Wrexham Glyndwr 76.64%
- University of Wales Trinity St David 75.72%
- Cardiff 75.57%
- University of South Wales 74.99%
- Cardiff Metropolitan 71.30%
- Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama 70.59%
Dr David Blaney, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council Wales said: “For many students completing this survey, they will have been coming into the end of the first year of their studies in March 2020. They will have studied through extraordinary times and should be proud of what they have achieved.
"For some students, moving swiftly to online learning – without the usual social experiences seen in the higher education experience – placed students under immense pressure, and they have still succeeded. "
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