National Student Survey: our students are very satisfied

About the NSS 

The National Student Survey (NSS), an independent annual survey, evaluates how satisfied students are with the quality of their experience at university across seven areas. 

These are: teaching on their course; learning opportunities; assessment and feedback; academic support; organisation and management; learning resources; and student voice. 

How Durham ranked 

Our students’ satisfaction increased in all seven areas. We ranked in the top 20 non-specialist UK universities in the UK for teaching and academic support.  

Our mission is to provide education that is challenging, enabling, research-led and transformative. We scored especially highly on ‘teaching on my course’. Some 92% of students said they found their course intellectually stimulating, and 93.4% said staff explained things well.

Some 88.5% of our students said they found they had opportunities to explore ideas and concepts in depth. We were ranked sixth amongst non-specialist UK universities for this measure. 

Almost 90% of our students said they were satisfied with academic support at Durham, and 89.5% said they were satisfied with learning resources. 

Satisfaction with mental wellbeing support communications increased by 5.9% from 2023. Satisfaction with IT resources increased by 5.5%. 

Biosciences, Anthropology, Theology and Religion, Earth Sciences and Geography were rated particularly highly by students, specifically when asked about the teaching on their course.  

Even better to come 

We are pleased that our students are positive about their experience with us. 

We place high value on listening to the feedback of our students, to ensure we continue to offer a high quality education and exceptional student experience. We want to do even better in the future, which is why we are investing further in: 

• New and improved teaching and learning facilities and technologies, including the opening of a new location for our world-class Business School later in 2024.
• Our Collegiate accommodation, including the redevelopment of the College of St Hild and St Bede site, and our partnership with Unite Students to develop Rushford Court.
• Our student support services including a new Student Support Portal which is scheduled for launch in the 2024/25 academic year.

Find out more 

• Interested in studying at Durham? Explore our undergraduate and postgraduate courses.  

• Explore what makes the Durham student experience so special 

• Find out more about how we rank against other universities