St Andrews … home of happy students

Published on Thursday 6 August 2009 22:03

ST ANDREWS University has again topped a poll of student satisfaction.

The Fife institution achieved a 92 per cent satisfaction rating, according to the latest National Student Survey (NSS).

This was a drop of one point from the previous year, but St Andrews still retained its top spot north of the Border.

Across the UK it came fourth, beaten only by the Open University, which achieved 94 per cent, and two English institutions, the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Institute of Education, both at 93 per cent.

A spokesman for St Andrews described it as good news, not just for the university but for Scotland.

He said: "North of the Border, the sector is performing strongly in this important barometer of the quality of learning and teaching in the United Kingdom.

"It is the fourth year in a row that St Andrews has featured at the top of the NSS, and this demonstrates our deep-rooted commitment to academic excellence and the student experience.

"It's greatest value, however, is in helping us pinpoint the areas where we need and want to grow stronger."

Behind St Andrews in the Scottish table was Glasgow University, at 90 per cent – its satisfaction rating rose from 86 per cent last year. It overtook Aberdeen, which was second last year with 91 per cent, but dropped to 89 per cent this year.

Dundee's rating jumped from 84 per cent up to 88 per cent, while Edinburgh remained further down the table with the same score of 83 per cent.

Only 12 of Scotland's 17 universities take part in the survey, which is organised by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

A spokesman for the umbrella group Universities Scotland said: "If you were producing exclusive luxury goods and you were getting this level of satisfaction, you'd be pretty chuffed.

"That we are managing to deliver mass higher education to over 130,000 students a year and we are getting this level of satisfaction is really encouraging.

"Universities change people's lives for the better and our graduates don't forget it. That Scotland is leading the UK on student experience is the icing on the cake."

Meanwhile, pressure to find a job in the recession is leading almost a fifth of young people to lie on application forms, according to new survey.

Those under 21 are the most likely to be untruthful, with 18 per cent lying or hiding information, according to a survey of more than 4,700 applications made to financial firms in the past year.

Last year, that age group was the most truthful.

The Powerchex poll also found graduates from the top universities were less likely to be untruthful – fewer than 10 per cent of candidates who graduated from Oxford or Cambridge were found to have a discrepancy on their CV.

This compared with 25 per cent among graduates who attended universities outside the top 100 institutions.

DEGREES OF FUN

THE leading Scottish universities for student satisfaction (last year's figures in brackets):

&#149 St Andrews University 92% (93%)

&#149 Glasgow University 90% (86%)

&#149 Aberdeen University 89% (91%)

&#149 Dundee University 88% (84%)

&#149 Stirling University 88% (86%)

&#149 Strathclyde University 86% (85%)

&#149 Glasgow Caledonian University 84% (85%)

&#149 Edinburgh University 83% (83%)

&#149 Heriot-Watt University 81% (85%)