Wednesday 10-07-2024 - 11:07

The Office for Students’ NSS collects data every year from final-year students, helping universities to reflect upon and improve their services. This data is crucial for prospective students to make informed decisions based on real experiences.  Students rate their university on 29 questions, covering everything from quality of teaching, to IT facilities and student community. There is one question concerning the Students’ Union, which asks how well the Students’ Union represents your academic interests.
 

 

In the 2023 survey, new questions on mental health support and freedom of expression in English universities were added, and the response scales were adjusted. 

 

Last year, 75% of students responded positively to the statement that we ‘effectively represent their academic interests’, which was above the national average of 71.9%. This year, the benchmark for SUs was raised to 72.6%, but unfortunately, despite our efforts, only 70.9% of students responded positively this year, which falls below the benchmark.  Although the percentage difference is only small, we recognise this as a call to action, we’re taking this feedback seriously and are committed to making the necessary changes. Your voices are crucial, and we’ll work harder to ensure we better represent your academic interests and address your concerns.  

 

With the completion of our new building on the horizon, and some exciting changes in the pipeline, the only way is up! The NSS score provides valuable insights to guide us in enhancing the student experience at Edge Hill University, and we’ve already started work to strengthen our efforts to do so. We understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to making your student experience an excellent one. 

 

With this in mind, we are changing the way we deliver our activities and services so that we can come to you instead of you coming to us. Joining our Membership Services team is a new group of Faculty specific staff who will work directly with your Elected Officers for the Faculty of Arts & Sciences (FAS), Faculty of Education (FoE) and the Faculty of Health, Social Care & Medicine (FoHSCM), that we’ll introduce to you over the next few weeks. We’re also working on refreshing our representation models; boosting the Academic Societies framework to replace the Course Rep system as the vehicle of student voice on academic matters and personal development, and establishing Liberation Networks of passionate and ambitious students with a drive to advocate for specific groups within our student community. With these changes, there will be much more structure and embedded support for these groups of students.

 

We appreciate every student who took the time to participate in the survey. Your opinions and feedback are invaluable, and they drive positive changes for our university community.

 

Thank you once again for using your voice!