Are aerospace engineering students getting usable feedback?

Published Mar 26, 2024 · Updated Mar 15, 2026

feedbackaeronautical and aerospace engineering

Feedback only helps aerospace engineering students when it arrives in time and clearly shows what to do next. NSS comments suggest too often it does neither. Across the National Student Survey (NSS), the feedback category trends negative, with 57.3% of 27,344 comments coded as negative. Aeronautical and aerospace engineering within aeronautical and aerospace engineering shows a similar pattern: feedback accounts for 7.6% of topic share and skews negative (−20.4). As an NSS category used to benchmark providers, and a CAH subject classification used across the sector to compare disciplines, these signals point to practical issues of timeliness, usefulness and transparency, as set out in our NSS open-text analysis methodology. Programmes can respond with calibrated marking, structured feed-forward and visible turnaround standards.

Why does feedback matter in this discipline?

Usable feedback helps students refine designs, evidence calculations and build professional judgement faster. Students in aeronautical and aerospace engineering rely on specific, criteria-aligned feedback to iterate demanding technical work. Poorly targeted or delayed comments slow progress through modules and weaken confidence in assessment briefs and marking criteria. Concise rubrics, annotated exemplars and short marking rationales reduce ambiguity and help students act on feedback sooner.

What do students say about feedback quality and quantity?

Students say feedback is often too thin to improve the next piece of work. They describe limited, vague comments and inconsistent tone across tutors. They want actionable guidance that maps to criteria and shows what to improve next, not just a summary of errors. Programme teams can require structured feed-forward within each assessment, run spot checks on specificity and alignment, and calibrate feedback language through brief shared-marking sprints.

How does online learning change the feedback dynamic?

Online delivery can make feedback feel more transactional unless teams create space for dialogue. Shifts to online delivery reduce opportunities for immediate clarification after labs, presentations and group design reviews, a pattern that also appears in student perspectives on the delivery of teaching in aeronautical and aerospace engineering. Turnaround times stretch and dialogue drops. Short feedback sessions on Teams or in labs, backed by annotated exemplars in the VLE, restore interaction and help students apply feedback promptly.

Why does timeliness of feedback matter most?

Fast feedback is more likely to change what students do next. Students need feedback while the task is still live in memory and before the next assessment builds on it. Publish a feedback service level by assessment type, track on-time rates, and share brief "you said, we did" updates so cohorts can see turnaround improving. Clear expectations reduce anxiety and increase the chance that students use feed-forward actions.

What does the wider university experience reveal?

Feedback lands better when the rest of the course feels organised. Organisation, timetabling and staff responsiveness shape how feedback lands. Disorganised modules and late changes amplify frustration with any delay or ambiguity. Where staff respond quickly and assessments are well-sequenced, students describe a more coherent learning experience. Facilities and peer collaboration often offset pressures when access and scheduling are reliable.

How does feedback shape assessments and group work?

Assessment design determines whether feedback feels fair and usable. In aeronautical and aerospace engineering, wider concerns about assessment methods in aeronautical and aerospace engineering sit alongside students' especially negative comments on marking criteria (−51.6), signalling a need to make standards more transparent. Publish annotated exemplars across grade bands, show how methods align to outcomes, and calibrate markers at the start of each cycle. For group projects, provide stage gates with brief, targeted comments on technical accuracy, teamwork and project management so teams can adjust before problems harden.

Which support systems need strengthening?

Students use feedback more confidently when they know who can help and what happens next. They value a clear route to the right person when feedback is missing or unclear. Programme pages should signpost escalation points, and staff should close the loop when issues are raised. Short guidance on how to use feedback within each module helps students translate comments into action and supports wellbeing.

How should institutions implement student feedback?

Visible follow-through builds trust in the feedback process. Act on what cohorts tell you and make changes visible. Young and full-time cohorts tend to report the least favourable feedback experience, so replicate practices that work well in mature and part-time provision, such as staged feedback, checklists and quick dialogic sessions. Calibrate in disciplines where tone is weakest and run spot checks on actionability and alignment.

How Student Voice Analytics helps you

Student Voice Analytics helps teams pinpoint where feedback is late, vague or inconsistent, then track whether changes are working.

• Translates NSS open-text into trackable metrics for feedback, with drill-downs from provider to programme and by cohort characteristics.
• Benchmarks across CAH subject areas and segments, so you can prioritise where tone is weakest and show improvement over time.
• Surfaces assessment pain points such as criteria alignment and timeliness, and highlights practices from stronger-performing cohorts you can replicate.
• Produces concise, anonymised summaries for module teams and boards, with export-ready outputs for faster action planning.

Request a walkthrough

Book a free Student Voice Analytics demo

See all-comment coverage, sector benchmarks, and reporting designed for OfS quality and NSS requirements.

• All-comment coverage with HE-tuned taxonomy and sentiment.
• Versioned outputs with TEF-ready reporting.
• Benchmarks and BI-ready exports for boards and Senate.

Book a free demo Prefer email? info@studentvoice.ai

UK-hosted · No public LLM APIs · Same-day turnaround

Related Entries

• How does course communication affect aerospace engineering students?
• What do aeronautical engineering students say about teaching staff?
• Are aerospace engineering assessments working for students?
• What do students say about teaching delivery in aerospace?