National Student Survey 2022

Posted on 8 July 2022

We’re delighted to have some of the happiest environmental science and geography students in the UK.

For 'Overall Satisfaction', the Department of Environment and Geography has placed 2nd for the subject of physical geographical sciences and 3rd for the subject of environmental sciences out of the Russell Group universities included in the 2022 National Student Survey (NSS).

The NSS is a nationwide survey of final-year students in higher and further education that encourages them to give honest feedback about a variety of aspects of their university experience, including their department and course. This helps prospective students to make informed choices and also influences real change in future students’ experiences, from institution-level to course-level.

Within the Russell Group, both subjects placed highly in the following assessed areas.

Physical geographical sciences:

Teaching on my course (1st)
Learning opportunities (3rd)
Assessment and feedback (2nd)
Academic support (2nd)
Organisation and management (1st)
Overall satisfaction (2nd)

Environmental sciences:

Teaching on my course (2nd)
Learning opportunities (2nd)
Assessment and feedback (3rd)
Academic support (3rd)
Organisation and management (2nd)
Learning resources (2nd)
Student voice (3rd)
Overall satisfaction (3rd)

Professor Roland Gehrels, Head of Department

‘The NSS results are so important because they come from students who have been with us for the full duration of their course. Nobody is better placed to give us feedback! These results demonstrate that our graduates are well equipped and confident to tackle the environmental challenges our planet is facing. They are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our teaching and support staff, as well as our friendly, helpful and supportive departmental community in which students can thrive. We are delighted with our NSS scores!’

York's overall position

The University as a whole is 7th in the Russell Group for ‘Overall Satisfaction’ with a score of 80%, up from last year's 78% and above the national average of 76%. For the sixth year running, the survey placed York in the top spot for academic support in the Russell Group. Nine subjects achieved overall satisfaction scores of 90% or higher: biology, biosciences, French, genetics, marketing, natural sciences, philosophy, physical geographical sciences and psychology.

Find out more about York’s excellent NSS results.