Students dare to be ‘themselves’ more often

The atmosphere at my course is good, say more and more students in the National Student Survey. They also feel safer to ‘be themselves’ at their educational institution.

Higher education received a significant blow during the Covid crisis, when everything had to be done remotely. However, since then, students seem to judge their courses more positively, at both universities and universities of applied sciences.

General

Of all university of applied sciences students, 69 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied with their course in general, while 8 per cent are dissatisfied. This is slightly better than four years ago, when 66 per cent judged positively and more than 10 per cent were dissatisfied.

University students have always been more enthusiastic about their courses than university of applied sciences students, and they too are faring even better: 81 per cent are now satisfied and only 5 per cent are dissatisfied. Four years ago, this was 79 against 6 per cent.

This year, nearly 260,000 students completed the survey regarding their courses. Thus, almost one in three students in higher education has provided feedback on their lecturers, facilities, atmosphere, and so on.

According to the press release from the National Centre for Study Choice, which conducts the NSS, the sector of agriculture & natural environment has the highest share of satisfied students at 84 per cent. The education and economics sectors score the lowest with 70 per cent of satisfied students.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere generally receives the highest ratings. More than 80 per cent of university of applied sciences students and 78 per cent of university students are satisfied with it. One in three is even very satisfied in this regard.

But what about the rest? Some students are ‘very dissatisfied’ with the atmosphere, but this percentage has gradually decreased over the years, although the change is marginal: currently, less than 1 per cent of students give this rating.

They also dare to be ‘themselves’ more often, they say. The same applies here: the positive rating is slowly rising to 86 per cent (a bit higher in universities, a bit lower in universities of applied sciences), while conversely, an increasingly smaller group of students feels unsafe enough to be themselves: currently 3.4 per cent, compared to 3.9 per cent four years ago.

Coronavirus

The Covid crisis dealt a blow to the overall satisfaction of students. Before this time, 84 per cent of university students and 73 per cent of university of applied sciences students were ‘in general’ satisfied with their courses. It is improving, but satisfaction is still lower than it was before.

According to the NSS makers, this comparison should not be made, as the questionnaire was revised in 2021. However, the question about general satisfaction remains the first question in the NSS.

Commission

The National Centre for Study Choice conducts the NSS on behalf of the Ministry of
Education. The advisory board includes representatives from universities, universities of applied sciences, private institutions and student organisations ISO and LSVb.

With the results, prospective students can compare courses, for example on the website
Studiekeuze123 or in the study guides for higher education. Courses can also use the results to reflect on their own performance.