Student satisfaction at the LSE rose to 80% this year halting the downward slide in scores since 2007. The rise has contributed to LSE’s improvement in certain university rankings such as the Sunday Times. However the gap in student satisfaction between LSE and its main rivals the Russell Group universities (for example: UCL, Cambridge, Oxford) remains large with many scoring extremely highly in the 90th percentile.
The satisfaction scores were from the National Student Survey (NSS), a survey of all final year degree students studying at institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The survey asks for students’ opinions on the quality of their degree programmes across seven different categories. The press use the results to compare institutions and the results have an impact on LSE’s position in league tables. This year 56% of eligible LSE students completed the survey.
Historically the LSE has performed poorly in the NSS with overall satisfaction scores of 76% (2008) and 77% (2007) in previous years far below the UK average of 83% and low enough to place the LSE at the bottom of the Russell Group.
Furthermore students have poorly rated areas such as Teaching and Academic Support in the past with scores of 76% and 66% respectively. This year Teaching and Academic Support have improved scores of 81% and 71% respectively but still far below the UK averages of 84% and 75%.
The poor performance in these areas in previous years was one of the reasons why LSE established the Teaching Task Force (TTF) in 2007 aiming to improve the educational experience of all LSE students. Many of the TTF’s recommendations were introduced in 2009 however the students surveyed may not have felt many of their effects given their recent introduction.
Professor Janet Hartley, LSE’s Pro Director of Teaching and Learning said: “I am very pleased that the NSS results have improved, and in particular I am pleased about the improvement in the sections on ‘teaching on my course’ and ‘academic support’. I think the Teaching Task Force has led to a greater focus on teaching throughout the School and that is beginning to have an impact. We have narrowed the gap between us and our competitors but we still need to do more. The Academic Board agreed a set of proposals concerning feedback and assessment in June, and my main priority this year is to oversee their implementation.”
The LSESU General Secretary’s, Charlotte Gerada, response to the results was: “After years of dropping in rates of overall student satisfaction, LSE has finally seen an improvement in 2010 which has definitely plastered smiles around campus. Despite our 4% increase, I’d say we have little to celebrate or be smug about. LSE’s institutional brand boasts our role in the global arena as a world-renown, world-class institution, providing an educational experience of the highest class. Yet, repeatedly, the LSE desperately attempts to scramble and claw its way up the NSS ladder – ending up at a miserable position, wallowing below our institutional counterparts. The areas that the LSE has improved on substantially – namely teaching – is something that I’d like to highlight that our SU lobbied and campaigned for – evidence that the student voice can and should be heard. So, I do wholeheartedly commemorate the outcomes of the Teaching Taskforce, headed by Janet Hartley in response to the severe issues that the SU brought to light. Safe to say, if the School wants to improve overall satisfaction, core areas – like teaching and feedback – definitely need additional investment, resource and focus.”
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