The Open University’s National Student Survey scores – 2023

The results of the National Student Survey (NSS) 2023, commissioned by the Office for Students (OfS) have been published, with The Open University (OU) receiving scores higher than the sector average for academic support, teaching, organisation and management, assessment and feedback, learning resources, and learning opportunities.

The OU has continued to perform extremely well for its teaching and learning offer, with 92% of students responding positively when asked about receiving their assessment feedback on time – this is nearly 13% higher than the sector average.

More than 90% of students also said they are often challenged to achieve their best at the OU – this score is 6% higher than the UK average. Organisation and Management, and Assessment and Feedback were also some of the highest rated areas.

It is humbling to know that 15,648 of our students have taken time out of their busy lives to share their views of the OU via the NSS and I am proud to see that their feedback paints such a positive picture of their study experience with us. We owe it to them to also reflect and act on their comments where they’ve told us improvements can be made. I want to thank colleagues across The OU for all the efforts that go into improving the experiences of our students, so they achieve their goals and enjoy the journey along the way.”

Professor Ian Pickup
Pro Vice Chancellor – Students, The Open University

I am happy to see that the OU has again received positive responses in the 2023 NSS results. On behalf of the Students Association, I want to extend my thanks to all of those who help to improve the experience for students. This year has, again, proven to be a challenging year, but these are results to be proud of, as well as a base to continue to push for improvements.

As a Students Association, we are particularly proud to have received a positivity score of 80.2%, in comparison to a sector average of 71.9%, on how well we represent the academic interests of students.”

Gareth Jones
Deputy Director of the OU Students Association and Open University Law alumnus

The full NSS survey results are available here.

What is the National Student Survey? 

The NSS is an annual survey of almost half a million students final-year undergraduates studying for higher education qualifications at publicly funded higher education institutions (HEIs) and further education colleges (FECs) in England and Wales, and HEIs in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The survey consists of questions that relate to aspects of the student experience – teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, learning community and student voice.