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Scores for Sussex in this year’s National Student Survey (NSS) reaffirm the need for the University’s continued focus on the student experience, the Vice-Chancellor has said today. 

Published on Friday (27 July), the 2018 NSS results show a drop in overall student satisfaction at the University of Sussex. 

While overall satisfaction levels are close to the sector average at 82 per cent, this falls short of the ambitious targets the University has set for itself. 

Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor, said: “We take the results of the National Student Survey seriously and we will be responding to what our students are telling us through this data.  

“We know there are changes we need to make to the teaching, learning and overall student experience and we are producing new, detailed strategic plans that will make significant improvements in areas that are categorised in the survey.  

“We know that the nationwide industrial action earlier this year will have impacted many of our students and potentially lowered our scores. However, I’m absolutely sure that’s not the only reason and we must continue apace with our plans. 

“Listening to what our students are telling us, and responding accordingly, is pivotal to the future of our University. Everyone will need to play their part in making this a better university.” 

Here are Sussex’s headline results for 2018 (shown as proportion of survey respondents who said they were satisfied): 

• Overall satisfaction – 82.10 per cent
• Satisfaction with:
  • Teaching – 81.59 per cent
  • Learning opportunities – 77.89 per cent
  • Assessment and feedback – 67.20 per cent
  • Academic support – 74.16 per cent
  • Organisation and management – 74.33 per cent
  • Learning resources – 82.34 per cent
  • Learning community – 69.58 per cent
  • Student voice – 63.62 per cent

The NSS is carried out every year by a polling company on behalf of the government and is designed to help future university students choose what and where to study. It questions final-year students in their last few weeks of university. 

The 2018 data from the NSS will be published on Unistats on 30 August.