DD is prioritising student satisfaction so ruling out a lot of RG unis

[Satisfiedstudent]

My DD thinks student satisfaction is one of the most important factors in university decision-making so she is ruling out a lot of the top universities. She says most of the Russell Group unis are very poorly rated and whenever I suggest somewhere (Cardiff, Birmingham…. ) she whips out the Sunday Times guide book my mum bought her and promptly dismisses it. My DH thinks this is reasonable as a happy student is more likely to do well but I am not so sure that student satisfaction is the be all and end all and wonder what you all think?

Exeter catered halls require you vacate rooms during Christmas and Easter break. Most of Durham colleges did when I was there

I stand corrected then. However, most halls are self catered, so I imagine that it is still quite a small number of halls.

There is a lot of judgement on this thread. There are loads of reasons why some students don't want to be several hours away from home.

We looked at Warwick, which is less than two hours by car. However, by public transport it is a bus and three trains and would take far longer. Today it is showing 5 buses and 6 hours to do the journey.

When visiting Bristol for an open day the train home was cancelled, and we were told that Cross Country often end trains in Birmingham. As DD really didn't like Bristol she said that this was the final nail in the coffin for Bristol.

DD was similar - she rejected the offer from St Andrews as she thought it was too remote and far away. Also not enough night life for a DD who loves to party!

Last NSS survey, 2022

324,329 responses.

69% response rate

oddly though in the summary download no simple breakdown of response rate by institution. And as others have pointed out the devil will be in the detail.

I’m a lecturer, our nss was dire last year. Just over 50% of students said they were satisfied.

However when I talk to them they’re all happy, module evaluations are good, the student reps aren’t raising chronic issues, we deal with any little blips which are raised and then the students are ok. The students have just nominated us for an award. But on paper a prospective student would think we’re awful. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Agree that results can be skewed, two courses where I was used to offer takeout pizza once the survey was filled out during the lecture!

Yes, I know for a fact that Loughborough actively sought through various means of encouragement to push themselves up in the rankings (and very successfully too since once you're seen to be up there the reputation sticks)..

I’ve been to a prestigious uni and also a different one that rates very highly in student satisfaction. The second one is where I’d prefer my dc to go.

I don’t feel that using your parental contribution as leverage to influence your DD’s choice of uni is in any way ok.

Royal Holloway and LSE both have rooms requiring you to vacate during holidays.

Yes. Vacating rooms is a tiny minority though. My DD was catered but didn’t move out. Everyone can name a hall or two, but it’s not universal. Also you can choose ones for 39-40 weeks. It’s yours for that time. Also even 50 weeks in London.
It’s so often the case that prestigious uni comes first. That qualifies the student to study further elsewhere. It can be the other way round but it’s always best to go to the best. It’s easy really!

Theres the age old discussion of what is the best Uni - everyone has a different set of criteria. Prestigious doesn’t necessarily mean good.

I'm looking forward to the 6 trips to drop/pick up DS1in first year. DH and I are planning to make a trip of it as he will hopefully end up in a nice place 2/3 hours from home. We'll maybe stay the night before in a premier Inn, go to the beach, go for a nice meal etc. I'm happy to do that up to 6 times a year. Also, I was one of the 'dumped up North once' brigade and it was miserable. I didn't have kids to treat them like that.

I agree @Parker231. Certain professions (law) are rather blinkered when it comes to using RG universities as a blunt tool for recruitment. For many degrees, especially accredited ones, where you go is unimportant.

That said I think prestige is still a consideration when choosing some subjects. Although, some newer universities have better links with industry, so there isn't a one size fits all.

Schools are still pushing the RG narrative.

I actually think this is far more important than most teens give it credit for.

Perhaps cross reference highest student satisfactor rate and highest league table ranking (for subject, general ones are a bit meaningless) and look at those with a highest combined score.

tbh @Satisfiedstudent if your DD is really swayed by surveys then the Graduate Outcomes might be a preferable one for her to dig into.https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/graduates

The 2-3hr thing is interesting. In reality a very clear majority of students - UK domiciled undergrads that is - attend a uni within that by road travel distance / (or less) from home.

DS told me that it was a matter of pride amongst fellow students that LSE came bottom of the Student Satisfaction surveys. A sort of macho thing. Yet he and a number of his friends chose to stay on for Masters, in his case rejecting Oxford.

Goodness knows how they completed the survey but LSE suited him and he did well there.

How do you think international students manage? Not all of them are super rich with plenty of mummy and daddy's money. And storage isn't that expensive, unless you had enough stuff to kit out a house! Me personally I had nowhere to go so I didn't buy loads and only filled 2 boxes. One year I put some of it in a mate's house :)

If a student 'wants' to be near home and visit then fair enough, not going to judge. But it depends on your priorities. I do think the main purpose is to get an education and full 'student experience', to limit yourself on distance is short-sighted. By all means, use it to narrow down, but first sift? No way. Unless you need a lot of home support, due to medical reasons or whatever.

DS took the student satisfaction VERY seriously and therefore is at Loughborough & loves it so it worked for him.

Also a lot of them like it if they don't have to do much work etc as more time to drink so I never put much store by satisfaction surveys. One of my sons said the strikes had been brilliant as it meant less work!

I did pick my career at 14 (law) so that is perhaps unusual. However even if the teenager just has a few ideas for careers it can be worth spending 15 minutes online looking at the profiles of people in the jobs which pay the amounts the teenager might ultimately like to earn or in the jobs she or he might want to have a rough idea of where those people go to university.

I knew one man whose daughter picked an ex poly because all her friends from state school were going there. Yet she was the best in her class at her school and wanted to do a competitive career. She was probably was happy at the institution but I am not sure it did her career much good.

Being happy is the most important. One of DD’s friends - academically very able went to Durham. She hated it and came home after the first term. She reapplied the following year and went to Sheffield and loved it. Pastoral care was rubbish at Durham.

Or if you are thinking of an international career, it does no harm to attend somewhere with a diverse international intake. Pre children I worked in a number of countries and bumped into LSE alumni regularly. Remembering the horror of Passfield Hall cooking was a quick way to overcome cultural differences.

To those who say there is no need to visit a student more than twice a year – that’s fine if that is your experience. However we are all different and some (many?) students prefer to see family more often.

I myself moved a long long way from home when I was a student and went home by train. I also had a grant and no fees to pay. My DC were both self catering and that meant they had a lot of stuff. DS2 plays a sport which has a lot of big kit. It’s worth £££ so I would not be happy with him leaving it for a month (and in any case he needs it with him). It’s totally not in any way feasible for him to carry it and his personal luggage on a train. DD plays a musical instrument that she would not want to leave in halls or a house. So pick-up and drop-off at each end of term was a must (so that’s six visits).

As I said, my DS is very keen on us coming to watch him play – yes, he would not in any way demand it if he were more far-flung, but without doubt it’s a nice thing for him (and me). DD would have really struggled if I had refused to visit her or allow her to come home in her first year. I think it was OK for me to support her in the way that she wanted.

Actually DD did use "no more than 2 hours from home" as one of her main initial criteria. I think that makes her realistic - she knew she might need support. We are pretty central tho so that really only ruled out Scotland, Wales and the very south of England.

DS did not use that criterion fwiw and considered Dundee and other Scottish unis along with Exeter and Bristol; funnily enough he is even nearer home than DD was - luckily it's a uni with a high student satisfaction rating :) (a very sporty one haha). He is having a great time.

No one is saying (well I certainly am not) that all students should be within an hour’s drive. I am just flagging it as something that is worth considering. A friend had DC at uni in Kent and Cornwall – for good reasons in both cases and successfully – but boy did she get fed up with the driving and the staying in Travelodges. Because yes, she did go and visit them now and then. More than twice a year at any rate.

I think we all need to beware of taking our own experience as universal (me too I am sure). “They [DC] don’t want you at uni” – some (many?) DC don’t but some do. “No one comes home to work after uni” – many will not but some will.

Anyway OP I think the consensus is that there are many factors to be considered when choosing a uni. Hope your DD can find somewhere she will be happy.

Thing is student surveys can be weighted by the expectations of the students for what they wanted when choosing a uni.

E.g you mentioned deepest wales - a friend went to Aberystwyth which usually has really good student results and absolutely loved it - because they specifically wanted that close knit, active, rural lifestyle, loved being close to the beach, being able to walk everywhere etc so they got exactly what they wanted.

Whereas I wanted a big city uni so regardless of how good the student ratings they would have been irrelevant for me.

I think it's fair enough to put restrictions on how far you will be willing to drop her off and pay towards accommodatiom and then let her make her mind up with that in consideration but given those caveats student satisfaction isn't a bad way of whittling down choices - in my experience RG unis rely too much on their reputation. The RG is awarded solely due to research too so in most respects is irrelevant to undergrad students -if anything it could be a detriment because the amazing lecturers getting the RG certifications will be out researching and not prioritising actually teaching!

I think we are on the same page @clary. Closeness to home wasn't on DD's radar but ease of getting home was, so places that involved several buses and trains were less attractive.

In fact she discounted Leeds and Sheffield because they were too close to home, and although Manchester is close in terms of miles the car crash that is/was Trans Pennine "Express" plus the constant traffic jam that is Woodhead Pass was quite an off putter. Plus, she didn't like the university very much anyway.