Harper Adams University: Harper Adams remains one of the UK’s best universities for student satisfaction
The National Student Survey 2022 results are out – showing exactly what students completing their courses thought of their time at college or university.
Harper Adams has remained high for overall satisfaction – gaining the fifth highest “overall satisfaction” rating in the UK from full-time students completing their first undergraduate degrees.
Harper Adams University’s overall score of 85.71% was determined by responses from 86% of eligible students. This was the highest response rate of all UK universities and well ahead of the total survey response rate of 68.6 per cent – which equates to 324,329 students.
Harper Adams Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ken Sloan, welcomed the result:
“I want to thank all of the students who took time from their busy final year schedules to take part in the survey and provide such valuable feedback. And thank you to all of the University’s employees, partners and supporters who work together to deliver this high-quality experience. We are all committed to building upon this result and ensuring we are delivering excellent, relevant, effective learning and social experiences to all students at all levels.”
“While the survey gives us many reasons to celebrate, its real value comes in providing the honest views and ratings from our graduating classes. We recognise that no-one is going to be fully satisfied all of the time and each student values different aspects of their experience differently – and so they should. So, with the support of the University’s Board of Governors and all our employees, we will be analysing the survey results, identifying key themes and areas for improvement and driving forward change where it is needed for future cohorts.”
The Harper Adams course area with the best NSS score was food – with the Food Technology and Product Development course’s students reporting 100 per cent overall satisfaction. Learning opportunities and facilities for the course – from the Food Academy to library resources – were clear areas of strong satisfaction, with one student listing their highlights as “trips to factories and seeing how products are made. Presentations from those in industry. Practical sessions in kitchens and laboratories. And the trip to Amsterdam and a partner university in the Netherlands.”
This course is being refreshed and will be “Food Science and Innovation” from 2023 onwards – but course manager Rachel Hilton promises it won’t lose any of the qualities that helped its predecessor gain such a high score.
“Our food science students have always been a passionate, driven group who make the most of the opportunities we provide them with and go on to achieve great success in the industry. Past graduates and current students, as well as wider industry partners, have been consulted in our curriculum refresh project and I am excited to be offering the new route that will continue to be engaging, exciting, applied and closely connected to the industry we are nurturing future talent for.”
Professor Sloan added: “Across the Harper Adams University student feedback, key themes of success were Learning Community (6th highest score), Opportunities to work with other students (7th) and “community of staff and students” – 11th. These lie at the heart of the Harper Adams experience.”