Questionnaire National Student Survey
Every year, all students in Dutch higher education are invited to participate in the online National Student Survey (NSE). By filling out a questionnaire which covers various aspects of a course programme, students can share their opinions on their programmes as well as their universities or universities of applied sciences.
Structure of the NSE questionnaire
The NSE questionnaire covers multiple aspects of a course programme. Some of the questions are asked of all students who participate. In addition to these questions, institutions may choose six more subjects to add to their questionnaires. Each block of questions is supplemented with a blank text field so that students can submit any additional comments they have on that aspect of their programme.
Aspects of the NSE questionnaire
All students are asked about the following aspects:
- General satisfaction
- Content and organisation of teaching
- Connection to professional practice/professional career
- Teachers
- Guidance/counselling
- Examination and assessment
- Engagement and contact
- Studying with a support need
Institutions can add questions on the following subjects to their questionnaires:
- Skills – general
- Skills – scientific skills
- Skills – practical research
- Programme schedules
- Study load
- Group/class size
- Internships
- Challenge and commitment
- International aspects
- International students
- Structure and cohesion of the study programme
- In-depth learning
- Reflection
- Remote learning
- Study facilities
- Participation
- Equal treatment
- Curriculum flexibility
- Art programme
The results of the National Student Survey
The NSE results are publicly available and retrievable for research purposes. They are used for objectives such as informing prospective students on choices in higher education and improving the quality of education. For instance, prospective students can view the results for each course programme on the website Studiekeuze123.nl and compare them to other programmes’ results.
How the responses are processed
On behalf of Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze, the MWM2 research institute processes participating students’ questionnaire results (without including email addresses) to create anonymised products and/or data files. Examples of these products are:
- the Studiekeuzedatabase (in Dutch), containing the average satisfaction rates for each degree programme
- the NSE Dashboard (in Dutch)
- the NSE Benchmark File (in Dutch)
In addition to the public files, institutes of higher education also receive an institute file, which contains the NSE results that apply to their institute only. This file also does not contain any information that can be traced back to individuals.
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