National Student Survey and Privacy

Where did you get my email address?

When your university or university of applied sciences participates in the NSE, Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze receives your email address. All Dutch institutes of higher education that offer accredited and publicly funded course programmes are required by the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (WHW) to participate in the NSE. Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze is responsible for organising the NSE, processing the personal data it receives for this purpose only. All email addresses that we have received will be deleted on 13 October 2025.

Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze applies the principles as set out in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For more information, visit the website of the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens; information in Dutch).

What do you use my email address for?

Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze uses your email address to invite you to participate in the National Student Survey. If you choose to participate, you will also receive an email when the National Student Survey results become available. Students who win prizes will also be contacted about their prize at the email address provided.

Do you receive any other personal data?

Aside from email addresses, Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze receives some additional data from participating institutes of higher education. This data is necessary to only show you the survey questions that apply to you. We also need it to process the NSE results correctly.

Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze receives the following data for this purpose:

• The name of your school or university (OIE_code);
• The location name of your school or university (vestigingscode);
• The city or town where your school or university is physically located;
• The title of your course programme (opleidingscode);
• Whether your programme is full-time, part-time or dual work-study;
• Whether you are a regular, post-master or pre-master student;
• Whether you are enrolled in an originally remote-learning programme; 
• The level of your course programme (hbo or wo);
• Whether you are a first-year student; 
• The language in which you receive your National Student Survey invitation (Dutch, English or German).

Certain details may be added, if they are relevant to your course programme. They are:

• The course programme variant, learning route or track you are pursuing;
• Whether you are an art student;
• A secondary email address that can be used to contact you (your school or university needs your permission for this);
• Any labels your institution would like to use to monitor their National Student Survey results, like whether you were part of the introductory period;
• Whether you are an international student.

What do you do with the results?

The National Student Survey results are used for: 

• Study-selection information: prospective students can compare the scores of different programmes on the website Studiekeuze123.nl.

• Improving education: universities and universities of applied sciences use the results to determine where they can improve their programmes. 

• National monitoring of student satisfaction: various organisations – including the Inspectorate of Education; the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW); the Expertisecentrum inclusief onderwijs (ECIO); and umbrella organisations the Association of Universities (Universiteiten van Nederland) and Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (Vereniging Hogescholen) – use the results to monitor trends in student satisfaction over several years so that they can set their policies accordingly. 

• Research: the National Student Survey results are publicly available and retrievable for (scientific) research purposes. On request, Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze will grant access to the NSE benchmark file. This is an anonymised file that does not comprise personal information.

How is my privacy safeguarded?

Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze does not know your identity. While the study is in progress, Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze can link your questionnaire responses with the email address provided by your university or university of applied sciences, through which you are invited to take part in the National Student Survey.

During the period in which the study is conducted, you have the right to have your personal data deleted. Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze must keep your email address on file to be able to delete you from our databases if you choose so. Read more on how to submit such a request on the Viewing, correcting or removing data page.

Your email address will be deleted on 13 October 2025. From then on, Landelijk Centrum Studiekeuze cannot process any more requests to view, correct or remove your personal data.