National Student Survey

The survey is commissioned by the Office for Students and undertaken by Ipsos. Undergraduate finalists studying at UK universities are asked for their views on:

• the quality of the teaching and assessment on their course;
• personal development and academic support they have experienced;
• organisation and management within their department;
• the quality of, and access to, learning resources.

The results help to highlight where departments and the University are doing well and to inform plans for quality improvement. The results of the survey are published on the Discover Uni website.

The NSS 2025 survey runs from Monday 3 February to Tuesday 30 April 2025.

Contents

• Promoting the NSS
• Inappropriate influence
• Survey results and analysis
• Sharing the results
• Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• Who to contact

Prize draw for 2025

Students completing the NSS survey in 2025 will be entered into a prize draw run by Ipsos on behalf of the University of York. 
The prizes will be:

• 4 x graduation day packages (free gown hire with two additional guest tickets for the graduation ceremony
• 2 x £100 shopping or food vouchers
• 4 x £50 shopping or food vouchers
• 8 x £25 shopping or food vouchers

The result of the prize draw will be made available on the website and winners notified by email.

Inappropriate influence

All those involved in the NSS should be aware of the guidelines regarding inappropriate influence. Staff can remind eligible students to complete the survey but they have a responsibility to ensure that their students are encouraged to give their honest feedback on their student experience in the NSS.

Students should not feel that they are being monitored or encouraged to answer the survey in a particular way.

Staff must not:

• explicitly instruct students on how to complete the survey, e.g. "I recommend that you select agree or mostly agree";
• link responses to the NSS as having an impact on the value of students' degrees or their chances of employability;
• link responses to the NSS as having an impact on the institution’s position in league tables;
• inaccurately represent the response scale to students i.e. defining the "neither agree nor disagree" as a negative response;
• compare the NSS scale to other scales with different purposes i.e. assignment marking schemes;
• look over students' shoulders when they complete the survey;
• require students to provide evidence that they have completed the survey;
• complete the survey on behalf of students.

NSS promotion

It is crucial that local survey promotion is neutral and that:

• students are targeted equally so that each eligible student is given a chance to express their views on their student experience;
• students feel free to give honest feedback about their experiences without their responses being influenced by their institution;
• students must not be encouraged to reflect in their answers anything other than genuine perceptions of their experience.

Any promotional materials that are produced in addition to those provided by Ipsos must be checked for suitability in accordance with NSS guidance. A senior member of staff should sign-off all materials before they are used.

Instances of inappropriate influence

Concerns or allegations of inappropriate influence will be investigated by the Office for Students (OfS). If an investigation were to find that promotional activities and marketing materials had resulted in inappropriate influence, whether intentional or unintentional, the OfS (in partnership with the relevant funding partners) could take action to suppress the affected NSS data for the institution.

This would mean that no NSS data would be published for the affected courses at the institution in the specific year and, as a result, would not be available for learning enhancement work or marketing activities.

Sexual Misconduct Survey 2025

In 2025, Ipsos is also distributing a sexual misconduct survey to find out more about student experiences of sexual harassment and misconduct. Once students have completed the NSS, they will be invited to opt-in to complete the sexual misconduct survey immediately afterwards.

This survey is entirely optional and students will not be contacted about the sexual misconduct survey separately. Students that opt in will be directed to the range of support and guidance available to them, from both within the University and external organisations. For more information, see the Student guide to harassment and sexual misconduct - Office for Students.

The results and some analysis of results are circulated to Heads of Department and Chairs of Boards of Studies in the summer. Departments are asked to consider the results (with staff and students) and to keep UTC informed of their response and any actions taken through the annual programme review process. 

• NSS results (Discover Uni)
• Internal analysis of NSS results by the University - restricted, contact caroline.ollier@york.ac.uk for access.

Sharing the results (internally and externally)

Access to NSS data is restricted to staff involved in delivering and supporting teaching because it includes additional data not available in the public domain for internal use only. They should not be shared with third parties (including professional, statutory and regulatory bodies as well as for publicity and marketing materials).

Sharing with student reps

Additional data may be shared with student representatives (e.g. at Boards of Studies) as long as they are made aware that they are being allowed to view it in order to help fulfil their role. As with other committee papers, they have responsibility to maintain confidentiality of the unpublished data.

Access to open comments

Due to the survey's privacy statement, online access to the open comments is further restricted. The open comments are available to Chairs of Boards of Studies, Chairs of Combined Executive Committees and Heads of Department and a limited group of senior managers only.

If they wish to share relevant comments with colleagues for the purpose of enhancing the student experience (e.g. at Boards of Studies or Annual Programme Review meetings) they must do so in accordance with the guidance on using NSS data. At these meetings, committees may need to look at other departments' open comments (e.g. where considering combined programmes); however this should be kept to a minimum and we do not usually expect data relating to other departments to be circulated. Open comments must not be shared with third parties.

Data that is in the public domain may be shared with students and externally.

• University of York Policy on Student Surveys and Guaranteeing Confidentiality of Feedback
• Guidelines for use of NSS data

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Who to contact

For survey queries:

• Caroline Ollier
  Quality Support Officer
  caroline.ollier@york.ac.uk

For enquiries under the Freedom of Information Act:

• Charles Fonge
  University Records Manager and Archivist
  charles.fonge@york.ac.uk
  +44 (0)1904 321168