Internal use only Hertfordshire Students’ Union National Student Survey 2016 School of Creative Arts Improvements across the board in the NSS 2014 were followed by a number of decreases in 2015 in Creative Arts; in 2016 the School has seen mixed success, with minor increases and decreases across the areas. Improvements to Teaching and Learning (1%), Academic Support (3%) and Organisation and Management (3%) have come with decreases in Assessment and Feedback (-1%), Learning Resources (-2%) and Personal Development (2%). A 2% decline in overall satisfaction has come alongside a 1% increase in Students’ Union satisfaction. Creative Arts has historically struggled against the sector mean; these mixed results means that this trend has continued, with only the Students’ Union performing at or above the sector mean. Teaching
Assessment
Support
Organisation
Resources
Development
Overall
SU
School of Creative Arts
81% (1%)
72% (-1%)
78% (3%)
70% (3%)
84% (-2%)
76% (-2%)
73% (-2%)
69% (1%)
UH
85% (-1%)
70% (1%)
80% (-1%)
73% (1%)
88% (-2%)
83% (-2%)
82% (-2%)
74% (0%)
Sector (all HEIs)
87% (0%)
73% (0%)
82% (0%)
79% (0%)
87% (0%)
83% (0%)
86% (0%)
69% (-1%)
Positive and Negative Themes (Open Comments)
At or above the sector mean Within 5% of the sector mean Over 5% below the sector mean
A number of positive comments concerned helpful staff in the School. Students across courses praised their course for preparing them for industry. However, this often came at the expense of the course being stressful and timeconsuming. While some students praised the facilities that were available to them, such as studios and workshops, students in Photography complained about the change to the studios.