Students give city university top marks

A national student survey has given Sunderland University top marks.

Results from this year’s National Student Survey (NSS) show that in 31 of the university’s 51 courses, 80% of the students, or higher, said they were satisfied overall.

In seven undergraduate degrees this rises to 100% – Biomedical Science, Forensic Psychology, Sociology, Illustration and Design, Fashion Journalism, Business and Finance Management and Glass and Ceramics

In the Overall Satisfaction category, 78.91% of the university’s students said that they were satisfied with the quality of their course, compared with a figure of 76.24% for the higher education sector as a whole.

Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor and chief executive of the university, said: “For the

University of Sunderland, the National Student Survey is one important indicator of satisfaction as it gives us direct insight into the views and experience of students.

“This has, of course, been a highly unusual year with a series of national lockdowns and other disruption caused by the pandemic.

"Despite that, the feedback from students will help us to identify what we do well, and highlights areas where our students think we could make improvements.”

Colina Wright, CEO at Sunderland Students' Union, said: “Going to University should be an exciting and life-changing opportunity and the SU want to empower students to ensure that their time here is positive and their feedback is acted on.”