National Student Survey puts DUSA top in Scotland again as University achieves record results overall

Published On Tue 12 Aug 2014 by Grant Hill

The 2014 National Student Survey has once again named Dundee University Students’ Association (DUSA) as the top university students’ union in Scotland, also rising to fourth spot across the whole UK.

Meanwhile, the University of Dundee has been ranked in the top 20 in the UK overall as it achieved record results in the survey.

DUSA saw its scores rise this year with 86 per cent of the 2,000-plus respondents stating they were satisfied with their union, an improvement on the 82 per cent figure for 2013 and its highest ever score. As a result, DUSA’s UK ranking rose from joint 7th to 4th.

Improved satisfaction was also noted across the University, where record high scores were recorded across the six survey themes and virtually every individual question asked. This means that Dundee is now ranked in the top 10 in the UK across the three themes of Teaching, Learning Resources, and Personal Development.

Overall satisfaction has risen by 2 per cent to 90 per cent, which equals the University’s best ever result and is comfortably ahead of the sector average of 86 per cent. Overall satisfaction was recorded at 90 per cent or above in 16 out of 27 subjects, and the University was top ranked in the UK in four subjects, top ranked in Scotland in eight, and in the UK’s top 10 in eleven.

DUSA President Iain MacKinnon said, “Once again this is a brilliant result for DUSA and echoes similar scores which we have received in the International Student Barometer and the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey. After achieving the same score in both 2012 and 2013 it’s great to see us improving and moving further up the rankings.

“DUSA receives one of the lowest institutional grants in the UK per student, a fact which the University has acknowledged and has led to us receiving more financial support in this past year. Our continued success is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our student representatives and our support staff, and the engagement we have with the University lets us know that we are listened to and our opinions are appreciated.”

Professor Karl Leydecker, Vice-Principal for Learning and Teaching, said, “These outstanding results are a credit to the hard work and dedication of staff, both academic and administrative, right across the University to offer the best student experience possible. Particularly pleasing are the substantial rises of 4 percent in Assessment & Feedback, and 6 per cent in Organisation & Management, as these have been areas of particular focus over the past year.

“Our investment in infrastructure is also making a material difference, with the refurbishment of the Library and Learning Centres both on the City Campus and within the Medical School at Ninewells Hospital helping the University to a ranking of 4th in the UK for Learning Resources, behind only Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College, London.

“The opening this week of the new Student Enquiry Centre, a partnership between the University and DUSA to offer a single point of enquiry for student services at the heart of the city campus, shows that we will not be resting on our laurels but continuing to do all we can to enhance all aspects of the student experience at Dundee.”

DUSA Vice President of Communications & Campaigns Zuchaela Smylie paid tribute to the work being carried out at all levels to improve the provision and experience for students at the University.

“It’s fantastic that not only is DUSA seeing its highest ever ratings, the same is true of many departments within the University,” she said. “We’ve worked hard this year alongside University staff to improve IT facilities, learning resources and academic support, so it’s excellent to see that work recognised by the students.

“But of course we don’t want to become complacent and are already working on areas such as timetabling, assessment and feedback because we want to see scores in these areas continue to rise. We also want DUSA to keep improving and hopefully in a few years we’ll be number one in the UK.”

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