First results National Student Survey 2023

The first results of the 2023 National Student Survey (NSE) have been published. The NSE is sent annually to all students in the Dutch higher education system. Of all students at the UG, 30% completed the questionnaire. That is about equal to the response on a national level. The NSE consists of a general part, which is the same for all universities, and a flexible part, in which institutions can choose from a number of subjects. The UG results for the general part have been published today.

The general part consists of questions concerning satisfaction with the study in general, examination and assessment, content and structure of the programme, lecturers, connection to professional field/job market, study progress supervision, and involvement of/contact with the programme. Questions are answered on a scale of 1–5, and a score of 3.5 or higher is considered a pass. The UG passes on 46 out of 50 questions. Compared to last year, students are more satisfied with their programme in general and the atmosphere within the programme. They also feel more at home in their programme than last year.

Comparison with national average

The UG scores lower than the national average on a few questions, although the difference is often only a few hundredths. Again the greatest challenge for the UG—and for all universities—lies in the connection to the professional field/job market: the UG scores an average of 3.2 on this subject That is the lowest subject score for the UG, which is also below the national average of 3.33. The UG scores highest on involvement and contact with 3.87, which includes the question whether students feel safe to be themselves at their institution. The UG scores better than the national average, among other subjects, on satisfaction with study facilities, the quality of testing for knowledge and understanding, the content-based expertise of lecturers, and the intelligibility of lecturers' explanations.

Rector magnificus Cisca Wijmenga: 'I am pleased with the upward trend in student satisfaction with the chosen programme. As well as the fact that many students have started to feel even more at home here. At the same time, the Board of the University is aware of areas for improvement, one of which is employability. This has been an important theme for several years, but more effort is still needed to improve connections with careers.'

How will the results be used?

The NSE results will be used by degree programmes to signal and monitor points for improvement. The results will also be discussed in consultations held with students, including in the faculty councils and the University Council. In this way, the results will contribute to improving teaching at the UG. A detailed report of the NSE results—including the results from the flexible part of the survey—will be shared with the faculties and the University Council.

View NSE scores

• This Factsheet contains the NSE 2023 results for the UG
• Scores by course level can be viewed from 31 May on the NSE site of the organizer Studiekeuze123