10 reasons to complete the National Student Survey

1. It’s your chance to give your views
The NSS is a national listening exercise – and all final year undergraduate students across the UK are strongly encouraged to take part. It’s important for you, for future students, for universities, and for the broader higher education landscape of the UK. Give your views, and be part of something big.

2. It helps us improve what we do for students
The NSS survey gives us the opportunity to listen and respond, and to do things better.

3. It’s completely independent and anonymous
The NSS is run by Ipsos on behalf of the Office for Students. It’s anonymous, and all UK universities are asked to encourage their final year undergraduate students to complete it.

4. It’s focused on final year undergraduate students only
As a final year undergraduate student, this is your unique chance to reflect over the past few years and give your views on what was good, and what might be improved.

5. Your response really matters! For your department and college...
Each department and college uses your feedback and ideas to consider course offerings, and to put any necessary shorter or longer-term action plans in place.

6. …to the university more broadly
We also analyse results at the wider university level to see where other issues come to light, such as issues with our libraries and IT services.

7. …and to future students coming to Oxford
The results from the NSS become publicly available to help new students choose where to study.

8. The questions cover a range of issues
Survey questions provide us with a good picture of your studies, plus your wider living and learning experience. They give us valuable insight into what’s working well in all aspects of Oxford life.

9. It helps us to understand and share how we’re doing at Oxford
The survey results help us to understand how we’re supporting students. They are also looked at by a variety of external audiences with an interest in how we are doing, including our regulator, the Office for Students. However, it is really important to stress that there is no link between the NSS and fee levels, as is sometimes suggested elsewhere.

10. It helps us compare Oxford to other universities
While league tables aren’t something we focus on at Oxford, we do welcome the chance to compare our students’ responses with those at other universities - giving us a better sense of where we are doing well and where we could improve. Because it’s so widely used, the NSS is the only survey that does this effectively.