National Student Survey 2026 finds students’ views of their experiences of higher education are continuing to improve

The National Student Survey (NSS) asks students across the UK to share their views on themes including academic support, teaching and assessments, and the wider student experience. The findings will help prospective students choose between different courses and institutions, as well as supporting universities and colleges to improve experiences for all students.

With a higher proportion of students responding positively across all themes compared to 2025, this marks another year of improvement in how students’ view their courses. Over 360,000 students across the UK shared their views this year, and for students studying in England, the results showed:

• Almost nine in ten (88.1 per cent) students responded positively to questions relating to ‘teaching on my course’ compared with 86.9 per cent in 2025.
• 80.2 per cent of students responded positively to questions relating to ‘the student voice’, which look at the extent to which students’ feedback is considered and acted on by institutions. This compares to 77.6 per cent in 2025.
• While most students (81.1 per cent) responded positively to questions relating to the organisation and management of their course, the survey found that the positivity score for some institutions was significantly lower than expected.
• Across all survey themes, students aged 31 and above were more positive about their higher education experience than younger students.
• As in previous years, disabled students were less positive about their higher education experience across all survey themes than those who did not report a disability, with the most significant differences seen in responses to questions relating to ‘organisation and management’ and ‘the student voice’;

Chief executives of the OfS, Ruth Hannant and Polly Payne said:

‘We’re pleased to see that the proportion of students in England who view their higher education experience positively has increased for another year running. That should give us all confidence in the ability of our universities and colleges to deliver the high quality teaching, learning, and support that every student is entitled to.

‘It’s especially encouraging to see that nearly 90 per cent of students have good things to say about the teaching quality of their courses. We know that most institutions work hard to ensure students are engaged, intellectually stimulated, and suitably challenged, and the data shows those efforts are paying off. With the changes we recently announced to the way we regulate the quality of courses, we plan to use future survey results to help universities and colleges to continuously improve and better recognise those institutions going above and beyond.

‘We encourage institutions to view their individual results as an opportunity to think ambitiously about how they can continue to improve the quality of their offer across the board. The results also suggest they should be thinking about how they can tailor their approach for different groups of students. It is concerning that disabled students continue to report worse experiences than their peers and we want to help institutions put this right. We are currently developing a new statement of expectations, which will set out what we expect of universities and colleges to ensure that disabled students can access, participate in, and achieve good outcomes in higher education.

‘Thank you to every student who shared feedback this year. Your views will help prospective students make important decisions about where and what to study and give universities and colleges crucial insights into how experiences vary across their student populations. At the OfS, we’ll be using the findings to further develop our understanding of students’ wants and needs as we work to ensure all students get an excellent higher education, are treated fairly, and are supported to succeed in their studies and beyond.’

1. The Office for Students is the independent regulator for higher education in England. Our strategy for 2025 to 2030 seeks to ensure that students from all backgrounds benefit from high quality higher education, delivered by a diverse, sustainable sector that continues to improve.
2. In 2025, the OfS used the NSS platform to invite all final year students in England to complete a pilot of the sexual misconduct survey (SMS) immediately after submitting their NSS response. To help build evidence over time, we intend to run a further SMS linked to the National Student Survey (NSS) in 2027. As in 2025, the two surveys will remain separate. Find out more about the SMS.
3. Find out more about our new quality assessment system.
4. Find out more about our statement of expectations in relation to disability.