National Student Survey shows Leiden students satisfied
The first results of the National Student Survey (NSE) show that Leiden students are still satisfied with their degree programmes. On average they are slightly more satisfied than in 2021. Satisfaction with their lecturers and study guidance has also increased compared with 2021.
Lower response than in 2021, but higher than national average
The NSE2022 was conducted at the start of 2022 and was completed by 12,351 Leiden students: a response rate of 36%. This is somewhat lower than last year when 45% of the students took the NSE. But it is higher than the national average – of the 860,185 students in the Netherlands who were invited to take the survey, 30% actually did. Students from Leiden University could take the survey from 21 January to 13 March 2022.
Leiden students again very positive about their lecturers
On average Leiden students rate their degree programme with a 3.85 on a scale of 5. This is a bit higher than in 2021 when the average mark was 3.82. Satisfaction with the atmosphere of the degree programme also rose compared with last year. In 2022 students gave this a mark of 4.01 compared with 3.88 in 2021. The total scores for the six main themes are between 3.24 and 3.92. These themes are: content and structure; career preparation; lecturers; study guidance; testing and assessment; and engagement and contact.
Leiden students remain very positive about their lecturers. The satisfaction score for lecturers is higher than in 2021 and like last year is also higher than the national average. Leiden students are positive about things like their lecturers’ teaching skills and the guidance they provide. They also find their lecturers inspiring. Satisfaction with study guidance has also increased compared with 2021. As in previous years the average scores for some of the six main themes are below the national average. The University will continue to work hard on these.
Career preparation
The efforts relating to career preparation have not gone unnoticed. Whereas students gave the topic of ‘career preparation’ an average mark of 3.24 in 2021, this rose to 3.29 in 2022. This would seem to indicate that we are moving in the right direction. We will continue to work on this in the coming years, for instance by making skills more visible in our teaching. Employers greatly value graduate skills. Making students aware of the skills they develop helps them prepare for their careers.
Results per faculty and degree programme
In the coming period the results will be broken down further and shared with the faculties and degree programmes. Programme committees play an important role in evaluating the results at the degree programme level and in making any recommendations. The results are then analysed by faculty quality-assurance staff and prepared for the programmes. The results will be available soon in the Onderwijsdashboard. You will hear in the near future from your faculty and degree programme which points have emerged from the NSE for your degree programme and how these will be dealt with.
More information
See the fact sheets (right) for Leiden University’s score for the main NSE themes and the national average or look up how your degree programme was rated in the NSE Dashboard.
The NSE is not the only tool we use to improve our teaching. We also use course and degree programme evaluations as well as issues raised by the participation bodies. These tools are used to see what is going well in our teaching and what could use some more attention.