Student survey is bland and worthless, claims academic
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Hetty ter Haar
Jun 12, 2008, 4:45:24 PM6/12/08
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Student survey is bland and worthless, claims academic
Polly Curtis
Thursday June 12 2008
The Guardian
A government-commissioned £2m annual survey of students' experiences of higher education is being widely manipulated, according to an assessment by an academic who recently quit the project.
The National Student Survey (NSS) was commissioned by the government as a guide for university applicants,, but has been branded as "methodologically worthless" by Lee Harvey, who quit as director of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) last month after a row over the survey.
The latest controversy over the NSS follows reports that a lecturer at Kingston University told students: "If Kingston comes bottom [in the NSS], the bottom line is that no one is going to want to employ you because they'll think your degree is shit." His remarks to a class were recorded and made available on the internet.
The reports about Kingston prompted further allegations that the survey was being corrupted at other universities.
Harvey, an internationally respected expert on higher education policy, left the academy voluntarily after being suspended earlier this year after a row about his outspoken views on the survey. The HEA is represented on the NSS steering committee.
His suspension triggered accusations from around the world that he had been silenced and academic freedom had been compromised.
Writing in tomorrow's Times Higher Education magazine, he says: "The National Student Survey is rapidly descending into a farce. As has been shown in other spheres, such as external quality assurance, institutions and academics are good at manipulation.
"While quality assurance is flexible and can be adapted to minimise the game playing, the NSS is a simplistic device that is easy to outmanoeuvre."
The NSS was introduced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to gauge students' opinions and hold universities to account.
Students are asked to agree or disagree with 22 questions about the teaching they received, the academic support, the organisation of their institutions and the access to resources. Last year, 177,000 took part.
Harvey writes that the questions are "bland", adding: "That these [results] are formed into scales and assumed to measure complex concepts is laughable.
"What we have is an illusion of a survey of student views. However, it is so superficial and so open to abuse as to be useless.
"A much better exercise would be to explore student engagement to find out what students really seek from their higher education experience, rather than imposing a set of categories that have no resonance for most students and don't address their real priorities."
Harvey was suspended from the academy, which was set up to help develop and improve universities, reportedly after writing a letter to the Times Higher Education magazine in a personal capacity in which he condemned the survey.
Harvey left his post "by mutual agreement" this month, the HEA said yesterday. Both parties have agreed not to discuss his departure publicly.
John Denham, the universities secretary, condemned any manipulation of the process in parliament, while the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), which commissions the survey, has promised tougher guidelines for universities.
A spokesman for Hefce said there was no evidence of systematic manipulation of the survey and it took individual accusations very seriously.
Michael Arthur, the vice-chancellor of Leeds University and chair of the NSS steering group, said: "The NSS is widely supported by student advisers, current students and university administrators. It is the jewel in the crown of the higher education sector, offering vital information to inform choice and help improve higher education."
Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited
Polly Curtis
Thursday June 12 2008
The Guardian
A government-commissioned £2m annual survey of students' experiences of higher education is being widely manipulated, according to an assessment by an academic who recently quit the project.
The National Student Survey (NSS) was commissioned by the government as a guide for university applicants,, but has been branded as "methodologically worthless" by Lee Harvey, who quit as director of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) last month after a row over the survey.
The latest controversy over the NSS follows reports that a lecturer at Kingston University told students: "If Kingston comes bottom [in the NSS], the bottom line is that no one is going to want to employ you because they'll think your degree is shit." His remarks to a class were recorded and made available on the internet.
The reports about Kingston prompted further allegations that the survey was being corrupted at other universities.
Harvey, an internationally respected expert on higher education policy, left the academy voluntarily after being suspended earlier this year after a row about his outspoken views on the survey. The HEA is represented on the NSS steering committee.
His suspension triggered accusations from around the world that he had been silenced and academic freedom had been compromised.
Writing in tomorrow's Times Higher Education magazine, he says: "The National Student Survey is rapidly descending into a farce. As has been shown in other spheres, such as external quality assurance, institutions and academics are good at manipulation.
"While quality assurance is flexible and can be adapted to minimise the game playing, the NSS is a simplistic device that is easy to outmanoeuvre."
The NSS was introduced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to gauge students' opinions and hold universities to account.
Students are asked to agree or disagree with 22 questions about the teaching they received, the academic support, the organisation of their institutions and the access to resources. Last year, 177,000 took part.
Harvey writes that the questions are "bland", adding: "That these [results] are formed into scales and assumed to measure complex concepts is laughable.
"What we have is an illusion of a survey of student views. However, it is so superficial and so open to abuse as to be useless.
"A much better exercise would be to explore student engagement to find out what students really seek from their higher education experience, rather than imposing a set of categories that have no resonance for most students and don't address their real priorities."
Harvey was suspended from the academy, which was set up to help develop and improve universities, reportedly after writing a letter to the Times Higher Education magazine in a personal capacity in which he condemned the survey.
Harvey left his post "by mutual agreement" this month, the HEA said yesterday. Both parties have agreed not to discuss his departure publicly.
John Denham, the universities secretary, condemned any manipulation of the process in parliament, while the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), which commissions the survey, has promised tougher guidelines for universities.
A spokesman for Hefce said there was no evidence of systematic manipulation of the survey and it took individual accusations very seriously.
Michael Arthur, the vice-chancellor of Leeds University and chair of the NSS steering group, said: "The NSS is widely supported by student advisers, current students and university administrators. It is the jewel in the crown of the higher education sector, offering vital information to inform choice and help improve higher education."
Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited
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