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School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

Humanities NSS results highlight encouraging progress – thank you

11 Jul 2025

A message from Fiona Devine and Fiona Smyth

Dear All

Following the publication of the National Student Survey (NSS) 2025 results by the Office for Students (OfS) on Wednesday, and yesterday’s StaffNet joint message from Duncan and April, we would like to share some thoughts on our Faculty’s results.

Overall, our results are very encouraging, with major increases in student satisfaction in many areas. This is thanks to the huge effort and hard work of academic, PS and technical services colleagues across the Faculty and we should all be proud of our progress.

Faculty headlines

The overall positivity score for the Faculty, based on responses to all 27 questions in the NSS, is 80.8%. This is an excellent 4.4% increase on last year.

Looking at the survey’s seven core themes, we have some very good results, with all seven positivity scores up compared to 2024:

  • Academic support – 87.4% (+3.0%)
  • Assessment and feedback – 73.2% (+5.4%)
  •  Learning opportunities – 81.6% (+3.2%)
  • Learning resources – 85.6% (+4.4%)
  • Organisation and management – 81.9% (+6.2%)
  • Student voice – 74.2% (+7.5%)
  • Teaching on my course – 86.5% (+2.6%)

We are really pleased that some questions in the assessment and feedback and student voice themes have seen the greatest increase in positivity. These are areas which the Faculty and Schools have put massive amounts of effort into tackling through the NSS action plan so it is fantastic to see that the work is paying off.

There were a lot of positive remarks from students in the open comments section of the survey, including many highlighting the difference individual members of staff have made to their time at the University. It is always lovely to read of the positive impact colleagues in all sorts of different roles can make at a personal level to our students.

For each survey completed the University made a £2 donation split equally between four good causes – the University of Manchester Cost of Living Support Fund, Manchester Central Foodbank, Barnabus and Ladybarn Community Hub. More than £12,000 has been committed overall and we are delighted that the Humanities figure is above £5,500.

Next steps

We will consider the positivity scores and open comments in detail with key colleagues across the Faculty over the next few weeks and months. The new academic year gives us the chance to continue supporting and improving the experience of all our students in our Schools and Faculty. Many of the building blocks are in place, with the introduction of Canvas in September as the replacement for Blackboard giving us an opportunity to further embed best practice.

Thank you once again for all your hard work and commitment. We really appreciate having such a dedicated academic, PS and technical services community across the Faculty.

Enjoy the weekend once it comes and have a great summer!

Regards Fiona and Fiona

Professor Fiona Devine, Vice-President and Dean

Professor Fiona Smyth, Deputy Dean and Vice-Dean for Teaching, Learning and Students