Students give Teesside vote of confidence

Students at the University of Teesside are overwhelmingly satisfied with their lecturers, learning resources and personal development, according to a massive new survey of student experiences published today.

English, Law and Art & Design students were the most satisfied at Teesside.

Their answers in the first National Student Survey put Middlesbrough’s seat of higher learning in the top 25% of all UK universities in terms of student satisfaction in all three subject areas. Computer Science, one of the largest academic disciplines at Teesside, also did extremely well.

The results put Teesside:

• top of the region’s five universities for Personal development
• joint top with Durham and Newcastle for Learning Resources
• joint second with Newcastle for Overall satisfaction.

In all, over 1,200 Teesside students responded to the Government’s survey which had the backing of the higher education funding councils and the National Union of Students. The results will form part of the new Teaching Quality Information (TQI) website which will give prospective students and their advisers greater insight in choosing what and where to study.

Professor Leni Oglesby, Teesside’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) said: “We value this survey because it gives an unvarnished view of what students think about their courses. It’s anonymous so students can say what they really think and we are delighted with the overall vote of confidence.

“It is also a tribute to the quality of our staff who managed to maintain standards and student satisfaction despite the cut in higher education funding per student in recent years and the demands placed on staff by quality audits and league tables.

Beth Beck, President of Teesside Students’ Union, said: "We are pleased to see that so many of our members responded to this important survey and we're also delighted to see that the University really values the opinions of students.

"We're also encouraged by the fact that so many students are satisfied with their experience and that the University is planning to act on any areas that were identified as needing improvement. The Students' Union is really looking forward to working with the University to help them keep on improving levels of satisfaction."

Professor Oglesby said: “Teesside got an overall satisfaction score of 4 out 5, with students expressing most satisfaction with learning resources, particularly for the library and access to IT facilities, and personal development.

“Of course, there are one or two areas that we think we can improve upon, and we look forward to working with the Students’ Union and our staff to make sure we are meeting student expectations across the University.”

“But what is so pleasing is that the response from students surveyed shows that Teesside meets or exceeds the national average and that in three academic areas – English, Law and Art & Design - we are in the top 25% in terms of student satisfaction. The results are very encouraging and show a high degree of satisfaction with the student experience on Teesside.”

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