NSS Toolkit 1
NSS Toolkit The National Student Survey (NSS) has run since 2005, and asks final year undergraduates to rate the quality of many aspects of their experience at university. The survey is run by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Office for Students (OfS). The survey results are presented on course comparison websites as Key Information Sets (such as on Unistats). Many national newspapers also use NSS results when building university league tables, and as such, NSS performance directly impacts our reputation and future recruitment. From Monday 21 January – Tuesday 30 April, final year undergraduate students at Royal Holloway will be completing the NSS survey. The completion of this survey is crucial as in order for NSS data to be made publically available, each department must reach 50% response rate from the students eligible. This document has been put together to assist colleagues across Royal Holloway, particularly our Survey Champions, in encouraging students to complete their survey.
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NSS: The Do’s and Don’ts Do:
Don’t:
Encourage students to voice their opinions State the purpose of the NSS and the target audience; mainly
Create your own promotional posters and collateral; please only
final year undergraduates
How students complete the survey • All eligible students will be sent email invitations to take part in the survey, directly from NSS • The emails will contain personalised survey links, when clicked, students enter their date of birth and this will take them directly to the survey • Students can also go online and complete the survey at thestudentsurvey.com. Via this route they are required to enter some more personal data so that NSS can verify that they are eligible to take part.
Invite honest feedback Inform students that the survey is run by Ipsos MORI, an independent research agency
Let students know that the information they provide will help
prospective students in deciding if they want to study at Royal Holloway (no mention of league tables)
use the Internal Communication team’s resources
Instruct students on how to complete their survey Explain the meanings of questions in the survey Explain the NSS response scale to students Recommend that students respond in a certain way, i.e. defining
the ‘neither agree nor disagree’ as a negative response, or provide standard or example responses
Give students privacy when filling out the survey Take advantage of the Internal Communication team’s
Tell students that negative responses could make their degree
Let students know that the survey is about their whole experience
Link the NSS directly to league tables Make the survey compulsory to fill out, students have a choice.
resources: Laptops, iPads, incentives and marketing materials at Royal Holloway; from Welcome Week through to Graduation.
look bad to future employers
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Engaging colleagues in your department Department engagement is critical for NSS responses. Four in ten students told NSS that they heard about the survey through a member of staff.
Top tips: • Hold a briefing for colleagues in your department to explain the nature and purpose of the survey • Share with your department how to engage students • Encourage staff members to set aside 10 minutes at the end of classes • Use your social media platforms to reach out to students about the survey • Circulate weekly response rate data to teaching colleagues , highlighting good performance and pointing out where your department is compared to others • Display promotional materials in places where final years will see them
What to do if your department response rates aren’t going up The majority of your students should complete the survey in the first few weeks of the NSS campaign launching. We recommend that hitting 50% in four weeks of the survey launch is beneficial. Here are some ideas if your department response rate isn’t improving as you’d expect: • Contact the Internal Communications team; they can help you run a completion session, draft an email to go to your students and provide additional incentives
‘Staff should not explicitly instruct students on how to complete the survey, such as explaining the meanings of questions or the NSS scale. The questions and scale are selfexplanatory and students should be left to interpret these in a way they see fit.’ NSS IPSOS MORI
• Hold a briefing session with student-facing members of staff encouraging them to mention the survey to final year students whenever possible • Make sure you have promotional materials in high-footfall, visible areas • Run a department final year event – in the past ‘pizza parties’ have worked.
• Work with course reps to identify areas where you can reach final year students • Remember, students can easily fill out the survey on their phone.
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Will I get updates on response rates during the survey completion period? • Survey Champions and HoDs will be emailed every Friday with a breakdown, by department, of the survey response rates • This Friday report will include data collected on Wednesday PM • The Friday report will not include responses gathered on Thursdays or Friday mornings - which will be included in the following week's report • This data should be shared widely in departments, to encourage colleagues to help with the promotion of the survey.
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WHEN PIR INTRODUCED SETTING ASIDE
10 MINUTES AT THE END OF CLASS
TO COMPLETE THE NSS THEY GAINED
24
%
IN COMPLETION RATES IN ONE WEEK
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Who should I contact if I have a query about the NSS?
7956 11/18
If you have a query relating to the NSS, from data to marketing materials, please get in touch with the Internal Communications team at intranet@royalholloway.ac.uk
Royal Holloway, University of London Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX +44 (0)1784 434455 royalholloway.ac.uk
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