12 Sep 08

97 per cent of the undergraduates from Oxford who took part in the survey thought library resources were good.

92 per cent of students are satisfied with their courses at Oxford University, according to the fourth National Student Survey (NSS). This is higher than the national average across universities and colleges in the UK where the overall student satisfaction rate is 82 per cent this year.

The NSS asks final year undergraduates a range of questions about their course and institution, including the quality of teaching, assessment, feedback and resources, as well as their overall satisfaction.

The survey has been carried out each year since 2005 and is commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Students were asked to complete the questionnaire online earlier this year and nearly 220,000 students participated; over 210,000 students studying at higher education institutions, plus over 6,000 students studying higher education at FE colleges, which took part in the survey for the first time this year.

Oxford University did well across all areas and the overall satisfaction rating of 92 per cent has remained consistent for the last three years. Classics, Economics, Philosophy, French, English and Music all received overall satisfaction scores of more than 95%. 93 per cent of students who responded said they found staff were enthusiastic about what they were teaching and 96 per cent found their course intellectually stimulating. 97 per cent thought library resources were good and 97 per cent were happy with the access they had to general IT equipment. In common with other universities, Oxford University received lower scores for questions concerning assessment and feedback, averaging 70 per cent while the national average satisfaction rate for these questions was 64 per cent.

Academic Registrar for the University of Oxford, Michael Sibly, said: ‘The results of the survey are testament to the work of staff in departments and colleges, and their commitment to providing an excellent education for our undergraduate students. We are pleased that our students are very satisfied with almost all aspects of the provision we make for them and we will use the survey data as we continue developing all aspects of student life at Oxford University.’