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Updates to this year's National Student Survey

Posted on 11 July 2023

This year there are some important changes to be aware of in relation to the publication of the National Student Survey (NSS) 2023 results: the month of publication is changing to August, and there were changes to the survey questions and response scales.

Change to the month of publication for results

Following the significant changes to the structure of the survey (see below), the Office for Students (OfS) has announced a delay to the publication of results this year. We will be able to access our own detailed NSS results, including subject-level question responses and open text comments, through the NSS Results Portal at 9.30am on Thursday 10 August.  

As in previous years, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching, Learning and students will work with colleagues across professional services to review the data and provide a summary of results to departments as soon as possible on 10 August.

Change to survey questions

In 2020, the OfS and the UK funding and regulatory bodies began a two-stage review of the NSS with an aim to ensure it remains fit for purpose and continues to support regulation and student information across the UK.

As a result, the survey questions and response scales have changed for NSS 2023. The changes include:

  • a new four point item specific response scales will replace the Likert response scale
  • a new additional question on mental wellbeing services
  • a new additional question on freedom of expression, which was asked to students in England only
  • the final summative question on overall satisfaction was asked to students in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland only.

The optional bank questions and their response scales remained the same. At York, we elected to add in some optional questions as well as some from the bank.

See the full list of NSS 2023 questions