A measure of student satisfaction

The National Student Survey is a nationwide project of Studiekeuze123 that seeks to research students’ satisfaction in relation to their higher education experience. With nearly all students in the Netherlands invited to participate, it is one of the largest educational surveys that acts as a gauge of various aspects of a study programme, including the courses, content of the programme, skills acquired, facilities, general atmosphere, how well they feel prepared for a career, the quality of teaching, methods of testing and assessment, guidance, counselling and more. The results of the questionnaires are then tallied and released to the public to help provide students and others with more insight about higher education institutes and study programmes.

Of the more than 700.000 students asked, 42,9% responded, giving the 2016 edition of the NSE the highest response rate since its inception.  

AUC in NSE 2016

Amsterdam University College once again scored highly in the results, with an overall rating of 4,3, compared to the national average of 4,07. AUC scored especially strong in the areas of teaching (considering quality, availability, engagement and other factors),  offering small class sizes, overall atmosphere, study environment (including facilities and activities near campus), having clear evaluation criteria and intensity of the programme.

With 49,2% of AUC students responding, the high overall result reflects the continuing satisfaction of students with the AUC programme.

An interesting result of this year's edition is that University Colleges in general scored well above the national average, showing that participating students in the Netherlands increasingly value the small-scale, liberal arts and sciences model of education.