If you’re a final year student, you will soon be presented with your first National Student Survey – the annual survey sent to finalists about their university experience. This year, the National Student Survey is providing somewhat of an ideological battleground. What is it all about? Why are some boycotting and why are others suggesting this is the wrong way to go about it?
What is the National Student Survey?
Every year, the Teaching Excellence Framework sends out the survey to final year university students to ask them about their experiences as a student. It asks a series of questions to ascertain how happy they are with their course and to get a picture of the quality of education from a student’s perspective.
This has always been the case. NSS has always sought student input to look at the quality of service that universities provide. A recent change to the NSS system means that once the results are in, these universities are graded in a gold, silver and bronze ranking much like schools. This isn’t the problem. What the government body does with this information is the problem.
Why Some Are Boycotting the NSS
The core issue is that this ranking system will determine which universities are permitted to charge higher fees in the future. Those arguing for boycott say that this ranking system is driving the education system towards a free marketplace based on profit rather than education quality. Naturally, there is more than a little concern that this will price students from lower income families out of the competition for university places.
Simply, rating your university with a great score could mean that students following you may be charged higher tuition fees as a result. Many have also noted how some of the questions are subjective in nature and cannot effectively rank universities in a quantifiable way. Others point to the irrelevance of some questions.
Why Others Think a Boycott is a Wrong Approach
The decision of the NUS to encourage this year’s final year students has come in for much criticism. The NUS states that asking for details of student satisfaction is no indication of the quality of teaching they receive. It is to this confusing and grey area that critics point when stating that this is not the right way to go about it.
If students refuse to fill out the surveys, it will make university performance data less clear. Far from highlighting the best and worst performing universities, it will only muddy the waters for students wishing to make an informed choice in future. What is clear is that TEF intends to go ahead with the ranking system and subsequently permit universities more control over their tuition fees anyway. The process will start from next year and without fresh data, students will have less information to make the right choice.