Collecting and using student feedback on quality and standards of learning and teaching in Higher Education

This report was prepared for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) by a project team comprising SQW Limited, the Centre for Higher Education Research and Information (CHERI) at the Open University and NOP Research Group. The study had two main components: to identify good practice by higher education institutions (HEIs) in collecting quantitative and qualitative feedback from students and to make recommendations on the design and implementation of mechanisms for use by individual institutions. The focus of this part of the study is quality enhancement to make recommendations on the design and implementation of a national survey of recent graduates, the results of which would be published. This part of the study is focused on providing comparative information to assist applicants to higher education (HE). Fieldwork for the study was undertaken between September and December 2002. Written information on institutional processes was requested from all HEIs in England and visits were made to 20 HEIs. During these visits, discussions were held with staff and current students on both feedback procedures within the institutions and the potential value of a national graduate survey. More focused discussions on the National Survey were held with a further 50 students and a small pilot survey was undertaken over the Christmas period