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This guidance details the principles institutions should follow when using any published and unpublished (non-public) National Student Survey (NSS) data submitted by their own students from 2005 to 2024.
It also offers information on what institutions should do when responding to requests for such information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).
The NSS data dissemination portal makes a range of data available to institutions. This includes:
Access to the NSS data dissemination portal is via a password-protected system operated by Texuna. If you are one of the nominated data dissemination portal contacts and have not received a password, please complete the service request form found: https://nssdataportal.co.uk/help/contact-support.
The nominated NSS data dissemination portal super user at your institution may create up to 30 users; however, this super user must ensure that these individuals are also aware of this guidance.
The use of NSS results publicly in marketing and publicity materials is subject to several restrictions, depending on the type of data.
Please note that the publication thresholds (a minimum 50% response rate and at least 10 students) must be adhered to at all levels. Any results below this threshold may not be released publicly.
As part of the NSS results, we produce theme measures which summarise the data by combining responses to similar questions. In 2024, the OfS and UK funding and regulatory bodies conducted a feedback exercise on publication of the NSS results which included proposed changes to theme measures for NSS 2024 results publication from seven themes to six themes. See:https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/update-on-theme-measures-benchmarking-and-response-thresholds-in-the-nss/
Following this feedback exercise, the OfS and UK funding and regulatory bodies made the decision to publish the NSS 2024 results with seven themes, which is consistent with NSS 2023. This also means that these theme measures are no longer experimental statistics for NSS 2024.
Use of NSS data in marketing materials:
Published NSS data – these are the results of the core and additional questions which are now available on the OfS website (at CAH-level) and Discover Uni website (at course-level) which will be available in October 2024. This data may be used in the following ways:
Unpublished NSS data – these are the results of the core and additional questions, the optional bank questions and the institution-specific questions at course-level which are available on the NSS Results Portal only. The results from the unpublished NSS data are subject to restrictions depending on the type and quality of the data being shared. This data may be used in the following ways:
The 2021 NSS included 6 additional questions relating to students’ experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of these questions were not published at institution level due to variations in response rates across the sector. These results are available through the NSS Results Portal and are largely for internal enhancement purposes only. However, they may be used publicly in marketing and publicity materials, subject to the following:
Note: The COVID questions were only collected in 2021, but will remain on the portal for historic and reporting purposes. Data is only stored for the 2021 year.
In 2020, the Office for Students (OfS) and the UK funding and regulatory bodies began a two-stage review of the NSS with an aim to ensure the NSS remains fit for purpose and continues to support regulation and student information across the UK.
In 2022, the OfS consulted on potential changes to the NSS that would take effect from 2023 and published analysis of responses and decisions taken.
As a result, the survey questions and response scales have changed for NSS 2023. The main changes include:
For 2023, the optional bank questions and the healthcare, allied health and clinical practice placement questions, their response scales remain the same.
For NSS 2024, the questionnaire will be the same as the NSS 2023.
These are the first major changes to the survey since the previous review of the NSS in 2017.
As a result of these changes the following caveats apply to the data and to its use:
Please note that if no data is available for a particular course or institution where students were surveyed, the data did not meet publication thresholds. This does not reflect on the quality of the course or institution. It may be because the course is new or it is small, or we have not received enough survey responses.
In 2023, the Office for Students hosted a technical consultation where it consulted on the approach to publishing NSS results for the 2023 survey and beyond.
As a result, the NSS results portal has changed for NSS 2023 onwards. The main changes include:
The outcomes from the technical consultation can be found here.
Following a major review, the NSS was substantially revised in 2017. These were the first major changes to the survey since its establishment in 2005.
The 2017 survey, therefore, used a different main questionnaire from that used in 2016 and previous years. The 2017 questionnaire can be downloaded from https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20180405115121/http:/www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2016/CL,302016/
The main changes to the survey in 2017 were:
While some questions within the survey remained the same before and after 2017, including the final question on overall satisfaction, the following caveats apply to the data and to its use.
Please note that if no data is available for a particular course or institution where students were surveyed, the data did not meet publication thresholds. This does not reflect on the quality of the course or institution. It may be because the course is new or it is small, or we have not received enough survey responses.
Public bodies are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), which enables members of the public the right to request information from these public bodies, as well as the right to be told whether a public body holds the information (in most cases).
When dealing with requests for information under FOIA and FOISA relating to the NSS data, institutions should take guidance from their information governance practitioner and, where applicable, the appropriate regulatory body with responsibility for upholding information rights; the Information Commissioner’s Office for FOIA, and the Scottish Information Commissioner for FOISA. Where appropriate, institutions should inform the OfS of requests to help ensure responses are consistent.
Institutions may need to consider exemptions to the disclosure of information not already published on the Discover Uni or OfS websites, and whether additional information should be provided under FOIA or FOISA:
Personal data must be processed in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation and UK Data Protection Act 2018. Institutions should take guidance from their information governance practitioner and, where applicable, the Information Commissioner’s Office, who have responsibility for upholding information rights.
The NSS privacy statement informs students that their responses will be used solely for research purposes, and all results will be anonymised and provided in the form of statistical information only. Institutions should bear in mind that although names are removed from the responses and feedback, it may still be possible for those working at an institution to identify themselves and others. informs students that their responses will be used solely for research purposes, and all results will be anonymised and provided in the form of statistical information only. Institutions should bear in mind that although names are removed from the responses and feedback, it may still be possible for those working at an institution to identify themselves and others.
Additionally, some results may be based on small groups of students which could identify individuals in rare circumstances or if used inappropriately. For NSS 2023 onwards, in cases where all the students in a group responded negatively (or all responded and all but one were negative), a suppression threshold has been introduced. For these cases, data is suppressed and replaced with a marker. Users should not use or manipulate the data to attempt to identify individuals, or in a way that it is likely to facilitate their inadvertent identification.
The OfS, on behalf of the Wales's Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (Medr), the Department for Economy, Northern Ireland (DfENI), the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), wishes to exercise its right to prevent unauthorised extraction and/or re-utilisation of the whole or a substantial part of the NSS database. This right is described in the Statutory Instrument 1997, No. 3032 (The Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997). The other UK funding and regulatory bodies have unlimited access to the database for institutions in their nations for their own regulatory purposes. Texuna may use the database for purposes in connection with the NSS while under contract to the OfS. Institutions and named students’ unions should only use the database for the purposes described in the privacy notice. The OfS reserves the right to take regulatory action in respect of any infringements of these guidelines.