Term 1 Survey

“I am very pleased with the course module coverage and the teachers are great.”

“I hate how long the classes are. I cannot be attentive for 3 hours.”

“The campus offers many opportunities for personal and professional growth.”

“I am doubting whether the knowledge I will gain here will actually be something I use.”

“The student union and UOE collectively have managed to make UOE a mini city! It has everything.”

“I wish I have received more support.”

The Term 1 Survey

Over 1000 students completed the End of Term 1 survey in December.

Discover how students found term 1 and read about how the data compares to other recent surveys.

To get started, select one of the main survey sections below.

UNIVERSITY

Students rate their experience positively

In total 92% of respondents positively rated their experience at The University of Essex, +1% from the last time we asked this question in the most recent end of year survey in June.

Significantly, Loughton data reflects a much higher percentage of students responding ‘very satisfied’ (66% as shown on this chart).

belonging increases among students

In total, 81% of students feel that they belong at the University of Essex, which represents a +4% increase when compared to the most recent end of year survey.

Since this latest figure includes the new cohort of students, it’s really positive to see the overall levels of belonging continuing to increase among students.

nps score for essex university rising

Our Net Promoter Score (NPS), which shows how likely students are to recommend The University of Essex to a friend or potential student, has increased each time we have asked this question, with an increase from +1 to +29 (on a scale of -100 to +100) since the 2021/2022 academic year.

The main reasons given by Promoters (those scoring 9-10) for recommending Essex were that they’ve had a positive experience overall and they feel they’re getting a high quality education.

Similarly common reasons given by Detractors (those scoring 0-6) included having had a good experience and the majority were happy with the facilities on campus.

opportunity to increase engagement

The percentage of students who agree that they are able to engage with the opportunities that The University of Essex has to offer is 75%.

This is the first time we have asked this question, therefore whilst we don’t have comparative data, a quarter of respondents not agreeing with this statement indicates a significant opportunity for us to improve student engagement.

anxiety is a significant issue

Significantly, ‘Anxiety’ is the number one reason that students are not engaging with the opportunities on offer at Essex, cited by 26% of respondents.

Other barriers to engagement cited by students were ‘I need to prioritise paid work’ (21%), ‘Travelling is too expensive’ (19%) and ‘My timetable doesn’t work for me’ (17%).

Whilst high levels of anxiety have previously been anecdotally identified, this is the first time that we have collected data that proves how widespread this is and the extent to which it is directly impacting upon students’ experiences at Essex.

COURSE

nps score for essex courses rising

Our Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures how likely students are to recommend their course to a friend or potential student has increased.

As a companion piece to the organisational Net Promoter Score (NPS) and in a similar vein, the NPS score for Essex courses has continually risen over the last 3 years, from +4 in 2021/2022 to +32 in this survey (on a scale of -100 to +100).

confidence in academic skills falls

75% of Essex students say that they feel confident about their academic skills, which has decreased from 82% in the most recent end of year survey.

By campus, Loughton students have the most confidence in their academic skills, with 89% saying they feel confident in comparison to 81% of Southend students, and 74% of Colchester students.

There is also a distinct difference in level of study, with 81% of Postgraduate students agreeing they have confidence in their academic skills, vs 73% of Undergraduate students.

sense of community on course increases

In total 65% of students feel a sense of community with others on their course, which marks a slight increase from 63% when this question was last asked as part of the end of year survey.

Loughton students answered a lot more positively to this question with a massive 94% stating they felt a sense of community with others on their course.

Generally, Postgraduate students have a better sense of community with others on their course with 71% agreeing, vs 63% of Undergraduate students.

Explore our Tableau dashboard

Now that we've shared some of the headline findings from this survey we want to give you the chance to dig deeper and look at how these results compare across different demographics and between departments.

Thanks to our partnership with the amazing team in PDI (thank you Naomi, Stephen and Megan) you can explore a custom tableau dashboard for this survey here

If you don’t have access to Tableau, please email poquery@essex.ac.uk

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The SU’s first ever end of term 1 survey has thrown up some really positive results, providing some unique insights into the student experience at Essex at the same time as shedding light on some clear areas for improvement:

92% of students were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their experience at the University of Essex in Term 1
The University’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) continues to rise at an institutional and course level (an increase of +28 over three years), pointing to increased satisfaction and loyalty amongst students
81% of students feel that they belong at the University of Essex, matching the highest level recorded since the SU started measuring belong in 2022
Anxiety is as significant issue for our students and their ability to make the most of their University of Essex experience, with over a quarter of students citing it as their main reason for not engaging with the opportunities on offer