UK students make their voices heard in the National Student Survey 2025

The National Student Survey (NSS) asks students across the UK to share their views on their academic support, teaching and assessments, and the wider student experience.

71.5 per cent of eligible students in the UK responded to the survey. Their feedback will provide information to help prospective students decide where and what to study. The results also produce rich insights to support universities and colleges to improve the higher education experiences of their students.

The survey results include data from different groups of students, based on characteristics such as disability, eligibility for free school meals, age, and ethnicity, allowing universities and colleges to compare views across the student population.

In the UK, all survey themes have seen an increase in positive responses compared to 2024. For students studying in England, results included:

• 86.9 per cent responded positively to questions relating to ‘teaching on my course’ compared with 85.3 per cent in 2024
• 77.6 per cent responded positively to questions relating to ‘the student voice’ compared with 74 per cent in 2024
• 78.5 per cent responded positively to questions relating to ‘organisation and management’, but the survey found some institutions are performing noticeably below their benchmarked positivity score
• disabled students were less positive about their higher education experience across all survey themes than those who did not report being disabled, with the most significant differences seen in responses to questions relating to ‘organisation and management’.

John Blake, Director for Fair Access and Participation at the Office for Students (OfS) said:

‘The NSS gives students the important opportunity to feedback on their higher education experiences and helps future students take the next step in choosing the right course for them. I’d like to thank every final-year student who took the time to respond.

‘I’m especially pleased to see students providing powerful feedback on their experience of teaching, a crucial part of their higher education experience. The NSS is also useful for identifying areas where there is room for improvement. In particular, this year’s results show that institutions across the sector could be doing more to ensure disabled students are getting the high quality higher education experience they are entitled to.

‘We invite universities and colleges across England to draw on these insights as they consider how to continue to improve their courses. At the OfS, we’ll be using these findings to help us develop our understanding of what students want and need from higher education – and the extent to which they’re getting it.’

Notes

1. The Office for Students is the independent regulator for higher education in England. We have recently consulted on a new strategy for 2025-2030 which 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. This year, 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. The two surveys were separate, and we aim to publish the SMS results in September.