The results from the 2012 National Student Survey (NSS), which gathers the views of undergraduates, has shown that 89% of students are happy with their overall experience at Newcastle. Unchanged from last year, this shows the University is maintaining its high standards according to over 2,600 students who completed the survey.
Standards of teaching were rated very highly by students, with at least 9 out of 10 saying staff were good at explaining things and that teachers were enthusiastic about their teaching.
Among the areas of improvement for Newcastle this year is the Library, which has a satisfaction rate of 90%, up five per cent on last year. The Robinson Library has recently undergone significant refurbishment, with updated and increased study and IT spaces. Access to IT and other resources have also been improved on last year, going up by four and five per cent respectively in the survey.
Away from studying, the Students' Union has proved popular with students after its £8m refurbishment programme, which was finished last year. It achieved a 76% approval rating in the survey, putting it in the top 10% in the country.
Professor Suzanne Cholerton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University said: 'It's good to see that our students continue to rate both their academic and Students' Union experiences so highly. This result, combined with the International Student Survey and the Taught Postgraduate Survey released earlier this year shows that we are delivering a great experience for all our students.'
The independent survey, carried out by Ipsos-MORI on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), asks final-year undergraduates about their level of satisfaction with their place of study.
In addition to the 89% overall rating, 14 individual subjects taught at Newcastle University came in the top 10 nationally for overall student satisfaction, with Molecular Biology, Biophysics and Biochemistry, Media Studies and Speech achieving a 100% satisfaction score.