Results from the nationwide National Student Survey (NSS) have been announced, and they show that Swansea University has slipped slightly since last year.

The university achieved 86% satisfaction with the overall Swansea student experience, a fall of one per cent from last year.

The university also fell below its benchmark target, which is a university-specific measurement, by one per cent, after beating it by one per cent last year.

A news release about the survey on the Swansea University website is headlined ‘Student satisfaction remains high at Swansea’ and does not mention the fall in percentage terms or against the benchmark. Instead it compares this year’s results with 2011 to show a 4% increase.

Professor Alan Speight, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Student Experience, is quoted as saying: “Students are at the centre of everything we do, so I am delighted to see that we have maintained our high levels of student satisfaction.”

When asked why this year’s figures had not been reported in the story, a university spokesman said: “The results are not statistically significant.”

The university story instead highlighted the fact that student satisfaction with teaching was high at 86%. Students expressed rising satisfaction with assessment and feedback, which has seen a year-on-year improvement of 9% since 2011, and a 4% rise since 2012.

Subject areas with particularly high rankings for overall satisfaction include:
Materials Engineering 100%
Classics 97%
Adult Continuing Education 96%
Mechanical Engineering 95%
Biochemistry 95%
Physics 95%
History 94%
Law 93%
Mathematics 93%
Egyptology 93%
Genetics 91%

Meanwhile, Swansea Students’ Union was celebrating after it was announced it had received a three point surge, putting the “Best Students’ Union in Wales” NUS Award winner into the top quartile of UK institutions.

Zahid Raja, Students’ Union President, said: “I am thrilled to see that Swansea University Students’ Union has continued its upward trajectory in achieving a 3% increase in satisfaction to 74% in the National Student Survey. This result is on the back of being announced as NUS Wales Higher Education Students’ Union of the year for 2013; firmly placing the Students’ Union in the top quartile of all UK Students’ Unions.

“This year, we will be launching our new strategic plan outlining how we aim to enhance the student experience whilst leading on the ‘students as partners’ agenda in Wales in order to realise our ambitions in joining the top 10% of all Students’ Unions in the UK by 2020.”

Swansea University Vice Chancellor Professor Richard B Davies, said: “Swansea is a great place to study, and students who come here become part of an ambitious, research-led institution with top quality teaching. Swansea is also a vibrant student city, with a thriving cultural and sporting scene, with city and countryside nearby and a beachfront location.”

The NSS is a survey collected from final year students and collated by research giant Ipsos-MORI, and is an independent review and ranking method for universities.

72% of final year students from Swansea filled in the survey – more than 2,000 voices for the university to listen to.