DMU’s block teaching evaluation: reported gains and comparison limits

Updated Sep 07, 2026

On 10 April 2026, De Montfort University published an account of its block teaching evaluation. It says the first cohort taught entirely under the model graduated in 2025 and reports improvements in student experience and continuation. The announcement describes the university’s analysis; it does not provide the full dataset or evaluation method. DMU announcement.

What is reported, and what remains unclear

DMU describes survey questions about peer connection, tutor access, staff interaction and timetables. It reports improved responses across these categories and refers to a 15-day feedback turnaround. The page also reports gains in NSS themes compared with 2022, alongside continuation and recruitment indicators.

These are attributed institutional claims. The announcement does not establish that block delivery alone caused the changes, or show how other differences between cohorts and programmes were handled. DMU’s account of the evaluation.

There is a specific caution for the NSS comparison: its questions and response options changed in 2023. OfS warns that removing the neutral response option can raise positivity without a change in experience. A 2022–2025 comparison therefore needs an explanation of how that break was addressed. OfS NSS quality notes.

Questions for a local evaluation

Our recommendation is to define the proposed benefit before changing delivery. If the aim is more usable feedback, record when feedback reaches students, whether they understand it and whether there is a relevant opportunity to apply it. A turnaround target alone does not answer all three questions.

Keep cohort definitions, questionnaire versions and collection periods with the analysis. Check whether programmes being compared differ in their subject, students or other changes to teaching. Ask what evidence might challenge the preferred explanation, as well as what supports it.

Open comments can help explain experiences that a score leaves unclear. They do not by themselves establish the cause of an outcome change. Use the student comment governance checklist to document coding, review and comparison limits.

Review note, 7 September 2026: reframed the account as reported institutional findings, added the NSS questionnaire-change limitation and removed causal conclusions and unsupported claims about the analysis service.