National Student Survey

What is the NSS?

The National Student Survey (NSS) offers final year undergraduates in the UK the chance to give feedback on their time at the University of Bedfordshire.

The survey is conducted by Ipsos, an independent research agency. It is commissioned by the Office for Students (OfS) on behalf of the UK funding and regulatory bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The National Student Survey (NSS) is available for final year undergraduate students to complete between 8th January and 30th April each year.

Why does the NSS matter?

No one knows the University better than you. By completing the survey, students can make it clear what is - and isn't - working for them.

At Bedfordshire, we rely on your feedback to identify what needs improving within the student experience. As a result of previous feedback from the NSS we have implemented changes both at University and course level. For more information please visit the Student Voice page to see how we are responding to your feedback.

The published NSS results also help prospective students make informed decisions of where and what to study. The data is published on the OfS and Discover Uni websites.

You will be asked to respond to questions relating to various aspects of your course. You will also be given the opportunity to provide comments on your overall student experience at Bedfordshire or your associated college.

How does the survey work?

The survey can be completed online from 8th January to 30th April 2025. You will be asked to complete it in sessions run by your academic teams during this time. If you can’t complete in these sessions, you’ll be asked to complete by email and text message from the University and Ipsos. Ipsos will also contact students who have not filled in the survey to ask them to do it on the phone. This is because, for the results to be released, each course needs to have at least 50% (with a minimum of 10) students complete it. Once you do complete it, you won’t be contacted by Ipsos again. At the University, we never know who has completed it, so if your cohort has not reached 50% completion rate, we will re contact you via email and text to try and get your course to publication levels.

Taking part in the NSS is entirely voluntary, if you would prefer not to complete it, please enter your details and select to 'opt-out' via the NSS website.

Your feedback matters and we hope you will take part in the NSS this year. This is a unique opportunity to give your views on your course and your time at Bedfordshire. As a thank you for your time, you can enter a prize draw to win one of 5 graduate packages.

You can access the survey and further information at TheStudentSurvey.com

10 reasons to complete the National Student Survey

The National Student Survey (NSS) opens on 8th January. Here are 10 reasons why we'd love for you to complete it this year.

The NSS is your opportunity to have your voice heard. It’s important for you, for future students, for universities, and for the broader higher education landscape of the UK. Give your views, and make a difference.

The NSS survey give us the opportunity to listen and respond, and make sure that we do things better. For more information please visit the Student Voice page to see how we are responding to your feedback.

The NSS is run by Ipsos on behalf of the Office for Students. It’s anonymous, and all UK universities are asked to encourage their final year undergraduate students to complete it.

As a final year undergraduate student, this is your unique chance to reflect over the past few years and give your views on what was good, and what could be improved.

Each faculty and school uses your feedback and ideas to consider course offerings, and to put any necessary shorter or longer-term action plans in place.

We also analyse results at the wider university level to see where other issues come to light, such as issues with our libraries, support services or ICT services.

The results from the NSS become publicly available to help new students choose where to study.

Survey questions provide us with a good picture of your studies, plus your wider living and learning experience. They give us valuable insight into what’s working well in all aspects of University life.

The survey results help us to understand how we’re supporting students, what is going well and where improvements can be made to enhance the overall experience for current and future students.

We welcome the chance to compare our students’ responses with those at other universities - giving us a better sense of what we are doing well and where we could improve. Because it’s so widely used, the NSS is the only survey that does this effectively.

You can complete the survey at thestudentsurvey.com

Your feedback really matters.