Students give damning verdict on teaching standards

The results of the latest National Student Survey have led Imperial College to announce a campaign to improve the assessment of students’ work, with the Rector Sir Keith O'Nions becoming personally involved in an attempt to lead a noted improvement across all College departments.

Launched in 2005, the NSS collects voluntary opinions from final year students about both pastoral and academic issues, leading to more detailed feedback on student satisfaction rather than other league tables that place emphasis on academic success.

The College has generally fared well in the results, released in August, which give Imperial an overall satisfaction rating of 85%, placing the university 43rd nationally and 13th amongst Russell Group universities. One of the more impressive results is the rating of 90% for satisfaction with the College’s learning resources, well above the national average of 80%.

However, one particular area of concern that the survey highlights is student satisfaction with assessment and feedback. Disquiet about this is not restricted to final year students alone. Last year, feedback from the College’s TOLE (Tutorial Online Evaluation) undergraduate survey highlighted concern in the departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, while Civil Engineering refused to cooperate and send feedback to personal tutors.

Sir Keith O’Nions, has made the issue a top priority, as evidenced by a strongly worded letter sent to departments to highlight the problem. He has advised that departments take “strong and concerted action” and set a timetable for when students can expect to submit coursework and receive feedback. He has suggested that in certain cases, departments should “consider reducing the amount of coursework the students are required to do” should they “get maximum benefit from the feedback.” The question is whether the current situation can be improved upon by the next College surveys at the end of term.