Student Voice Analytics for Art — UK student feedback 2018–2025
Scope. UK NSS open-text comments for Art (CAH25-01-02) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ~1,573 comments; 97.4% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. Roughly 55.1% Positive, 41.8% Negative, 3.1% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.32:1).
What students are saying
Art students talk most about the study environment. “General facilities” is the single largest topic, taking 13.4% of all comments—far above the sector’s 1.8% for the same category (+11.6 pp). The tone is net positive (sentiment index +19.9), albeit a little below sector on this topic. Supporting resources show a mixed picture: the Library attracts strong positivity (index +60.4, albeit lower volume), while the broader “Learning resources” and “IT facilities” are more muted.
A consistent strength is people and community. Comments on Teaching Staff (7.8% share) are warm (index +31.9). Students also report clear gains in Personal development (4.5%, +54.0) and value Student life (4.8%, +43.5). Collaboration stands out: Opportunities to work with other students (2.0%, +41.9) is very positive and much higher than the sector benchmark on tone. Delivery of teaching is also a net positive (+15.0).
Assessment and feedback are mixed. Feedback (5.9%) is slightly negative overall (−4.3) but notably better than the sector for this topic (+10.8 vs sector). Marking criteria (2.5%) carries a more negative tone (−34.5), though again less negative than sector. Where criteria are explicit and exemplified, sentiment tends to improve.
Operational delivery is a headwind. Organisation and management (3.5%, −19.3), Scheduling/timetabling (3.3%, −20.2), and Communication about course and teaching (2.0%, −47.6) lean negative and sit below sector on tone. These are the predictable friction points—timely, consistent information and visible ownership make a material difference.
Finally, system-wide themes influence the narrative: Costs/Value for money (3.3%) is strongly negative (−53.5), and COVID‑19 (4.6%) remains a source of dissatisfaction (−45.0). Lower-volume but highly negative topics (e.g., Strike action, Racism/Equality) are present and worth monitoring.
Top categories by share (Art vs sector):
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General facilities | Learning resources | 13.4 | 1.8 | +11.6 | +19.9 | −3.5 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 7.8 | 6.7 | +1.0 | +31.9 | −3.6 |
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 5.9 | 7.3 | −1.4 | −4.3 | +10.8 |
| Student support | Academic support | 5.7 | 6.2 | −0.5 | +11.9 | −1.3 |
| Student life | Learning community | 4.8 | 3.2 | +1.7 | +43.5 | +11.4 |
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 4.7 | 6.9 | −2.2 | +20.0 | −2.6 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 4.6 | 3.3 | +1.2 | −45.0 | −12.0 |
| Personal development | Learning community | 4.5 | 2.5 | +2.0 | +54.0 | −5.8 |
| Organisation, management of course | Organisation and management | 3.5 | 3.3 | +0.2 | −19.3 | −5.3 |
| Scheduling/ timetabling | Organisation and management | 3.3 | 2.9 | +0.4 | −20.2 | −3.6 |
Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costs / Value for money | Others | 3.3 | −53.5 | −0.7 |
| Communication about course and teaching | Organisation and management | 2.0 | −47.6 | −11.8 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 4.6 | −45.0 | −12.0 |
| Marking criteria | Assessment and feedback | 2.5 | −34.5 | +11.1 |
| Scheduling/ timetabling | Organisation and management | 3.3 | −20.2 | −3.6 |
| Organisation, management of course | Organisation and management | 3.5 | −19.3 | −5.3 |
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 5.9 | −4.3 | +10.8 |
Most positive categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal development | Learning community | 4.5 | +54.0 | −5.8 |
| Student life | Learning community | 4.8 | +43.5 | +11.4 |
| Opportunities to work with other students | Learning community | 2.0 | +41.9 | +40.8 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 7.8 | +31.9 | −3.6 |
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 4.7 | +20.0 | −2.6 |
| General facilities | Learning resources | 13.4 | +19.9 | −3.5 |
| Delivery of teaching | The teaching on my course | 3.3 | +15.0 | +6.3 |
What this means in practice
Prioritise the study environment. When “General facilities” dominate the narrative, reliability and ease of access matter: visible maintenance schedules, clear booking/usage rules where relevant, rapid fault reporting with status updates, and proactive communications about changes keep sentiment positive.
Tighten the operational rhythm. Name an owner for timetabling and programme communications; publish a single source of truth; and issue a brief weekly “what changed and why” update. These moves reduce confusion across Organisation, Scheduling and Comms, the categories that most often drag tone down.
Lift assessment clarity. Share annotated exemplars, checklist-style rubrics and realistic feedback SLAs. Close the loop by stating how feedback should be used for the next task. These basics are the fastest way to improve perceptions in Feedback and Marking criteria.
Address value and fairness explicitly. Be transparent about course-related costs, what is included, and where students can get support. Where sector-wide disruptions (e.g., COVID‑19) or external constraints apply, explain constraints and mitigations in plain language.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Top topics by share: General facilities (≈13.4%), Teaching Staff (≈7.8%), Feedback (≈5.9%), Student support (≈5.7%), Student life (≈4.8%), Type and breadth of course content (≈4.7%).
- Delivery & ops cluster (placements, scheduling, organisation, comms, remote): ≈10.9% of all comments, with generally negative tone vs sector.
- People & growth cluster (personal tutor, student support, teaching staff, availability of staff, delivery of teaching, personal development, student life): ≈30.0% of comments, strongly positive overall.
- How to read the numbers. Each comment is assigned one primary topic; share is that topic’s proportion of all comments. Sentiment is calculated per sentence and summarised as an index from −100 (more negative than positive) to +100 (more positive than negative), then averaged at category level.
How Student Voice Analytics helps you
Student Voice Analytics turns open-text survey comments into clear, year-by-year priorities. It tracks topics and sentiment across 2018–2025 for all disciplines, including Art, so teams can focus on high‑impact areas like Facilities, Teaching, Organisation, Communications and Assessment.
It supports whole‑institution views as well as fine‑grained department and school analysis. You get concise, anonymised theme summaries and representative comments for partners and programme teams, plus like‑for‑like sector comparisons across CAH codes and by demographics (e.g., year of study, domicile, mode of study, campus/site, commuter status). You can segment by site/provider, cohort and year to target interventions precisely and prove impact. Export‑ready outputs (web, deck, dashboard) make it straightforward to share priorities and progress across the institution.
