Can't get no satisfaction?

Thinking about doing a masters or further study? This year's National Student Survey might help cast some light over your shortlist...

Final year students were asked a number of questions about their universities and courses, including personal development, teaching, support, feedback, learning resources and overall satisfaction.

Historically, particular subjects (such as creative arts) and certain groups of respondents (for example older students) have been less glowing in their praise than others. Universities with larger numbers of students in these groups voiced concerns that these trends might jeopardise their overall satisfaction scores when compared with other institutions.

This year's results include new benchmarks that consider the mix of students and subjects thought to influence the overall satisfaction rating of a university.

The benchmarks are published against the data so it's easy to ascertain whether a university has performed well or not – a handy feature to help avoid the angst of Messrs Jagger and Richards when researching your choice of university.

For the most part, there isn't much data from postgraduate students (23 students commenting on a particular course was a threshold for inclusion) but as a nod towards the department, facilities and support which are likely to be the same for both the undergrad and postgrad experience, it's a worthwhile read.

After all, if in doubt always fall back to the British Army Field Service Regulations 1912, 'Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted'.

Useful links:
Take a look at the National Student Survey results.