What are accounting students telling us about teaching delivery?
Accounting students tell us that supportive staff and structured sessions help, but they need clearer assessment guidance, steadier timetabling and earlier access to materials to learn well. In the National Student Survey (NSS), the delivery of teaching lens, which pools UK students’ open‑text comments about how teaching is structured and delivered, shows 60.2% Positive, 36.3% Negative, 3.5% Neutral (index +23.9), with a gap between full‑time (+27.3) and part‑time (+7.2) learners. Within accounting, the discipline grouping used across providers, sentiment towards Teaching Staff is strongly positive (+43.9), while opaque marking criteria (−40.3) and scheduling (−22.0) depress experience. These sector signals shape the priorities set out below.
Does advance access to lecture materials make a difference?
Publishing slides and readings early improves comprehension and class readiness, and helps narrow mode and age experience gaps. Guarantee parity with timely, standardised release of materials, concise summaries and worked examples. Record and caption assessment briefings so part‑time students can catch up asynchronously. Students report greater confidence and more purposeful engagement when they can preview content.
What does high-quality accounting delivery look like?
Students criticise sessions that rely on reading from slides and ask for active learning that builds critical thinking. Use step‑by‑step worked examples, case‑based tasks and short formative checks to lift clarity. Apply a light‑touch delivery rubric covering structure, clarity, pacing and interaction, and share brief micro‑exemplars of high‑performing sessions so good habits spread. Accounting’s strong sentiment towards teaching staff provides the foundation to redesign sessions that bridge theory and practice.
How should exam formats respond to digital strain?
Digital‑only examinations can increase discomfort and reduce concentration during prolonged screen time. Hybrid formats mitigate this: schedule brief screen breaks, provide ergonomic guidance, and where appropriate retain paper for quantitative workings while capturing final responses digitally. Use post‑exam pulse checks to evaluate effects on performance and wellbeing and to refine policy.
Why consolidate module resources?
Students ask for a single, comprehensive module handbook that brings lectures, workshops and supplementary materials together. Standardise slide structures and terminology to reduce cognitive load. A single source of truth lowers search time, reduces repeated queries and supports consistent revision, even if the initial collation requires coordination across staff.
Which teaching methods work best for accounting?
Blend lectures with simulations, problem classes and small‑group discussion. Start new topics with concrete, practice‑oriented examples before abstraction, then use quick checks for understanding and pacing breaks. This approach demystifies quantitative concepts and supports transfer to assessments and placement contexts.
What structural and scheduling changes matter most?
Stabilise the operational rhythm. Maintain a visible home for timetable changes, issue a weekly what changed and why update, and name an owner for decisions. Sequence content so complex topics follow short refreshers and allow time for consolidation. These adjustments reduce friction for all students and are especially valued by those balancing work and caring commitments.
How can programmes enhance practical experience?
Internships, live briefs and simulations bridge the gap between theory and practice and build confidence in applying concepts. Collaborate with employers and alumni to design applied tasks, and signpost routes into accredited pathways and professional support. Where team work is assessed, scaffold roles, milestones and routes for resolving conflict.
What should providers prioritise next?
Prioritise assessment clarity, predictable timetabling and advance access to materials, while consolidating resources and diversifying delivery. Retain the people‑centred strength of staff support and increase practical application. Run short pulse checks after key teaching blocks and review results termly with programme teams, focusing on actions that lift delivery for part‑time and mature cohorts as well as full‑time students.
How Student Voice Analytics helps you
Student Voice Analytics turns open‑text at scale into prioritised actions for delivery of teaching in accounting. It tracks topics and sentiment over time from provider level to programme and cohort, supports like‑for‑like comparisons by mode, age and discipline, and enables segmentation by site, year and cohort to target interventions where they will move sentiment most. Export‑ready outputs help programme teams and academic boards act quickly and demonstrate progress.
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