Investment in student experience pays dividends in latest National Student Survey

The release of the 2013 National Student Survey (NSS) results reveals an overall satisfaction rating of 86 percent for City University London, a seven percent increase on 2012.

As well as showing the largest percentage increase in England, City also outperformed many other London universities, performing above average on five key measures including access to staff and the availability of specialist facilities and equipment.

City climbed 57 places from last year in the rankings for overall satisfaction, and scored highly in the teaching category, with a 90% rating.

NSS data are based on the opinions of final year undergraduates across most UK universities and colleges, on several issues including personal development support and assessment and feedback. Student satisfaction with feedback was significantly higher than the national average.

Welcoming the NSS results the Vice-Chancellor of City University London, Professor Paul Curran, said: "This is a fantastic result for the University. Our staff have worked tirelessly to enhance the experience of our students. I am also delighted that the considerable investment we have been making in our academic staffing, facilities and estate as part of our Strategic Plan is clearly benefitting our students. This achievement also reflects the efforts of our Students' Union to boost engagement in the NSS, demonstrated by our highest ever response rate."

Student participation in the survey increased again this year to 72%, among the highest in England and Wales. Giulio Folino, President of the Students' Union, said: "It is incredibly important that students make their views known and I am delighted by the continued increase in response rates. The progress made by the University is very encouraging, and together I know we can do more to further improve the student experience at City."

The NSS data also informs the Key Information Sets (KIS) which are available from the Unistats website. This information is provided for every undergraduate course across almost all English and Welsh higher education institutions to help prospective students make an informed choice about their course.

Fourteen courses at City achieved over 90% for overall satisfaction, with the undergraduate Music course ranked as top in the UK, with a satisfaction rate of 100%. Psychology courses were ranked joint top with a 99% rating, and Politics ranked third in the country, also with a 99% rating.