Imperial underlines commitment to innovative teaching as NSS results revealed

Student satisfaction at Imperial is now at 84%, according to the most recent National Student Survey (NSS).

The results reflect a 1% rise on last year’s survey bringing the College in line with the average for the sector.

Overall satisfaction increased in six Departments this year, with the largest increases seen in Bioengineering (+16 percentage points to 97%) and Materials (+11 percentage points to 87%). Aeronautics, Mechanical Engineering, Medicine and Life Sciences - Biochemistry also saw increases of at least 3 percentage points.

The results follow Imperial receiving a Gold Award in the Teaching Excellence Framework. The award means that Imperial is judged to deliver consistently outstanding teaching, and outcomes for its students, and is of the highest quality found in the UK.

Following last year’s results, which saw a drop in student satisfaction at Imperial, the College committed to reviewing the results in detail with Imperial College Union (ICU) and to addressing problems identified. Imperial has taken forward recommendations from ICU, which have been major drivers in the development of the College’s new Learning and Teaching Strategy – launched in June this year.

Ambitious goals

The survey is completed by final year undergraduate students

The Strategy commits significant investment to support innovative, technology-enhanced education initiatives across the College, and aims to establish the College as a centre for world-class learning for its students.

It focusses on four main areas: a review of our curricula and assessment, an evidence-based transformation of our pedagogy to make teaching more interactive, fostering an inclusive and diverse culture, and the development of online and digital tools to enhance curricula, pedagogy and community

Imperial’s Vice-Provost (Education) Professor Simone Buitendijk said: “This year we’ve made great strides in our ambition to make Imperial a beacon for innovative, evidenced-based and inclusive teaching.

“Our new Learning and Teaching Strategy gives us a clear framework to build on our existing strengths and drive the changes that our students want and need. Our goals are ambitious and we know that there is much work to do, but we are confident that we can and will provide the world-class educational experience that our students deserve.”