The National Student Survey 2012 is now open for final year undergraduate students and takes just 10 minutes to complete online.

This is your opportunity to give your opinion of Warwick in a national forum and the results of the survey can help potential applicants decide where to study. The survey is running for its eighth year and is regarded nationally as the primary measure of student satisfaction.

The University takes the results of the survey seriously and your opinion could help shape teaching, learning and student support at Warwick for future generations.

To say thank you for taking part, the University is offering a free prize draw with a first prize of £200, second prize of £100 and five runners-up prizes of £20 book vouchers.

2011 results

Warwick continued to achieve a very high level of overall satisfaction (88%) as part of NSS 2011, and we continue to score well above the sector average for the quality of teaching, the support and resources available to our students, and the opportunities open to all for personal development.

One disappointing outcome from NSS in 2011, however, was that there was only a small improvement in student satisfaction rates concerning the assessment and feedback process; now at 62%. Although this result is not out of line with the Sector as a whole, this is an area of particular concern at Warwick and there has been much internal reflection as to how this can, and will, be addressed across the institution.

Shaping the future

The results of previous years’ surveys, along with other student feedback, have had an impact on teaching, learning and student support across the University.

Teaching and learning

Warwick set up the Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL), with the specific remit of supporting the institution's commitment to innovative teaching and a distinctive student experience. A priority area for IATL is the dissemination of good practice around assessment and feedback. Ongoing remodelling and refurbishing work is taking place in the library, in order to increase the range and capacity of learning spaces available to students.

Read more on recent teaching and learning developments

Transport

Warwick has improved bus services over the past year to make it easier for students to get to and from campus. 2011 also saw work start on a new cycle route from Kenilworth, leading straight to campus. All of Warwick’s past successes in the area of transport were reflected in the results of the 2010 travel survey, which showed a marked improvement on previous results.

Specific improvements include:

• Dedicated student car share scheme called Take a Mate introduced in 2010. Membership has doubled since Fresher’s Weekend 2011 and currently stands at 409 members.
• University Bus services introduced in April 2011 providing 20 new daily bus services from Coventry to main campus, offering subsidised fares for students and staff. This added a new half hourly bus service (W1) from Coventry City centre via the Railway Station to main campus, and 4 extra bus services stopping at the Hearsall Common bus stops, which was a major problem for students in the morning peak.
• Travel Coventry increased both frequency and capacity of the No 12 bus service from Coventry to main campus which addressed much of the overcrowding and frequency issues.
• New L1 bus service from Leamington Spa introduced at peak times – this is one of the new University Bus Services.
• Stagecoach has added extra buses to the morning and evening peak in response to the L1 bus service, which has significantly improved the bus service for students travelling from Leamington Spa.

Campus

The Estates Office has worked hard to make Warwick’s campus a pleasant place to be, winning a Heart of England Award for the campus grounds, and a commendation from the Royal Institute of British Architects for the campus nursery. Warwick also opened several new buildings in 2011, including the Bluebell Halls of Residence, The Materials and Analytical Sciences building and the Clinical Trials Unit.

Environment

In addition, the University continued an ongoing programme throughout 2011 to improve its environmental sustainability. Warwick upgraded the cooling systems on all of its data centres, helped students to construct an award-winning wind turbine on campus, and made sure the newly constructed halls of residence are as environmentally friendly as possible, even installing innovative bathroom “pods” to achieve this.