UA92’s final year students have spoken and the NSS 2024 results have landed. But what do they actually mean? Let’s take a deep dive into the survey results and find out where UA92 came out on top in Greater Manchester.*
What is the National Student Survey (NSS)?
The National Student Survey (NSS) is an annual survey of final-year undergraduate students in the UK. It’s the biggest survey of its kind, with just under 340,000 final year students taking part. It gathers their feedback on various aspects of their course and student experience.
What questions were students asked in the NSS 2024 survey?
There are 27 questions split across 7 themes. The questions cover teaching, learning opportunities, feedback and assessment, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources and student voice.
What were the NSS results 2024?
The Most Supportive in Greater Manchester
We can proudly say UA92 is officially the most supportive in Greater Manchester, having scored higher than all Greater Manchester Universities for Academic Support and Mental Health Support Services.*
- 90.2% overall satisfaction score for Academic Support which is 4.8% higher than the sector average.
- Over 90% of students at UA92 gave a positive score for our mental wellbeing support services compared to the average of under 80% across the sector.
Students benefit from much smaller class sizes than traditional universities and get a lot more face-to-face teaching time with our academics (16 hours per week). Alongside their academic studies, students also have access to dedicated Student Support & Well-being Services including mental health, counselling, chaplaincy and disability support and coaching and mentoring through our 92 Programme.
Top Marks for Teaching
UA92’s success in this area is down to the quality of our deliberately different academic model and the quality and commitment of our academic staff. Students focus on one module at a time, giving them the space to explore topics in greater depth and really get to know those teaching them.
- 100% of UA92 students studying Sports and Exercise Science, Physical Education, Sports Journalism, Sports Media & Communications and Sport Management said our ‘teaching staff are good at explaining things’.
- 100% of students on courses based in our “World of Sport” and “World of Media” said that they were able to ‘contact teaching staff when they needed to’.
Student Voice
- Scored higher than all Greater Manchester universities across all questions relating to the Student Voice.
Students are satisfied with the opportunities to provide feedback on their course, and feel that their opinions are valued by staff and that it is clear how feedback is acted upon.
Feedback and Assessment
- Scored higher than all Greater Manchester universities for our assessments allowing students to demonstrate what they have learned.
- +4.8% higher than the sector average
One of the most popular reasons why students choose to study at UA92 is because they do not have to sit traditional end of year exams**. UA92 students are assessed during each block of study, therefore they receive feedback on their assessments at least every 6 weeks rather than waiting until the end of a term or the end of the academic year.
Why is UA92 deliberately different to other universities in Greater Manchester?
Sara Prowse, UA92’s CEO said: “We are delighted that our NSS Results reflect the fantastic support we have in place for our students through our academic teams, student support and well-being services and the coaching and mentoring opportunities through our 92 Programme. We continue our commitment to being a supportive learning environment for all students and give everyone the opportunity to achieve their full potential.”
Want to know more?
Find out more about How You Study at UA92.
*The NSS results referred to above compares UA92’s results against the 4 Universities in Greater Manchester (University of Bolton, Manchester Metropolitan University, Salford University and The University of Manchester).
Academic Support refers to the average score across all questions in Theme 4: Academic Support.
Mental health support services refers to question 26: How well communicated was information about your university/college’s mental wellbeing support services?
** There may be exams in some subject areas where external accreditations are available.
*** If you start in February, April or June or as an accelerated student, we can’t guarantee your timetable will be fixed am/pm throughout your studies.
