Student Voice Analytics for Civil Engineering — UK student feedback 2018–2025
Scope. UK NSS open-text comments for Civil Engineering (CAH10-01-07) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ≈1,967 comments; 96.8% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. ≈50.8% Positive, 44.2% Negative, 5.0% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.15:1).
What students are saying
Across Civil Engineering, students talk most about assessment clarity and usefulness. Feedback is the single largest topic (≈9.0% share) and trends negative (index −23.8), with companion categories Marking criteria (−47.3) and Assessment methods (−33.0) reinforcing the theme: students want clearer expectations, transparent standards, and feedback that is timely and actionable.
The programme experience itself is described as mixed. Delivery of teaching is near neutral (index +3.4) and Teaching Staff are viewed positively overall (+16.3) albeit below the sector tone for the same topic. Workload is a pressure point (−44.1), and Organisation and management of course (−19.0) plus Scheduling/timetabling (−18.2) contribute to day‑to‑day friction. Communication about course and teaching is a smaller topic by volume but carries a strongly negative tone (−41.7).
There are notable strengths. Students emphasise Opportunities to work with other students more than the sector (+3.7 pp) and with a positive tone (+15.2). Placements/fieldwork/trips, where present, are strikingly positive (+51.1, far above sector), and Student life also trends strongly positive (+52.9). Availability of teaching staff (+47.3), Student support (+16.3), and Library (+76.3, albeit a small share) round out the people-and-resources positives. Career guidance and support is net positive (+24.2) and appears more frequently than in the sector (+1.5 pp), though tone trails the benchmark.
Some areas are comparatively less discussed than in the wider sector—Personal Tutor (−1.9 pp) and Student support (−2.7 pp)—while others are over-represented: Workload (+2.4 pp), Opportunities to work with other students (+3.7 pp), and IT Facilities (+1.1 pp). Module choice/variety appears moderately and is near neutral.
Top categories by share (discipline vs sector)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 9.0 | 7.3 | 1.7 | −23.8 | −8.7 |
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 7.8 | 6.9 | 0.9 | +20.2 | −2.4 |
| Delivery of teaching | The teaching on my course | 5.9 | 5.4 | 0.5 | +3.4 | −5.4 |
| Opportunities to work with other students | Learning community | 5.7 | 2.0 | 3.7 | +15.2 | +14.1 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 5.5 | 6.7 | −1.3 | +16.3 | −19.2 |
| Marking criteria | Assessment and feedback | 4.3 | 3.5 | 0.7 | −47.3 | −1.6 |
| Workload | Organisation and management | 4.2 | 1.8 | 2.4 | −44.1 | −4.1 |
| Career guidance, support | Learning community | 3.9 | 2.4 | 1.5 | +24.2 | −5.8 |
| Organisation, management of course | Organisation and management | 3.8 | 3.3 | 0.4 | −19.0 | −5.0 |
| Module choice / variety | Learning opportunities | 3.6 | 4.2 | −0.6 | +2.8 | −14.6 |
Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marking criteria | Assessment and feedback | 4.3 | 3.5 | 0.7 | −47.3 | −1.6 |
| Workload | Organisation and management | 4.2 | 1.8 | 2.4 | −44.1 | −4.1 |
| Assessment methods | Assessment and feedback | 3.1 | 3.0 | 0.2 | −33.0 | −9.2 |
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 9.0 | 7.3 | 1.7 | −23.8 | −8.7 |
| Student voice | Student voice | 2.2 | 1.8 | 0.4 | −22.2 | −3.0 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 3.4 | 3.3 | 0.1 | −20.7 | +12.3 |
| Organisation, management of course | Organisation and management | 3.8 | 3.3 | 0.4 | −19.0 | −5.0 |
Shares are the proportion of all Civil Engineering comments whose primary topic is the category. Sentiment index ranges from −100 (more negative than positive) to +100 (more positive than negative).
Most positive categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student life | Learning community | 3.0 | 3.2 | −0.1 | +52.9 | +20.8 |
| Placements/ fieldwork/ trips | Learning opportunities | 3.1 | 3.4 | −0.3 | +51.1 | +39.3 |
| Availability of teaching staff | Academic support | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.4 | +47.3 | +8.0 |
| Career guidance, support | Learning community | 3.9 | 2.4 | 1.5 | +24.2 | −5.8 |
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 7.8 | 6.9 | 0.9 | +20.2 | −2.4 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 5.5 | 6.7 | −1.3 | +16.3 | −19.2 |
| Opportunities to work with other students | Learning community | 5.7 | 2.0 | 3.7 | +15.2 | +14.1 |
What this means in practice
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Make assessment clarity non‑negotiable. Publish annotated exemplars, checklist‑style rubrics, and clear marking criteria. Set realistic service levels for feedback return and stick to them. Calibrate across markers and use short feed‑forward notes so students know how to improve.
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Stabilise the operational rhythm. Name an owner for timetabling and course organisation; maintain a single “source of truth” for changes; issue brief weekly updates. Even modest improvements here lift perceptions of workload and fairness.
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Double‑down on collaborative learning. Students value working with peers; design for it with structured group tasks, visible roles, and transparent assessment of team contributions.
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Protect the human touch. Keep staff contact predictable and visible (drop‑ins, Q&A slots, prompt replies). Build on the strong results for availability of teaching staff and student support, and share good practice across modules.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Top topics by share: Feedback (≈9.0%), Type and breadth of course content (≈7.8%), Delivery of teaching (≈5.9%), Opportunities to work with other students (≈5.7%), Teaching Staff (≈5.5%).
- Delivery & ops cluster (Placements, Scheduling, Organisation, Comms, Remote) accounts for ≈12.1% of all comments and is generally negative in tone.
- People & growth cluster (Personal Tutor, Student support, Teaching Staff, Availability of teaching staff, Delivery of teaching, Personal development, Student life) holds ≈23.3% with predominantly positive tone.
- Assessment & feedback topics (Feedback, Marking criteria, Assessment methods, Dissertation) together make up ≈17.7% and skew negative.
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, prioritised actions. It tracks topics and sentiment over time (by year) for the whole institution and down to fine‑grained levels (faculty, school, programme), so teams can focus on what moves the needle: Feedback, Marking criteria, Workload, Organisation/Comms, and core teaching factors.
It also lets you evidence progress with 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 isolate hotspots, produce concise anonymised summaries for partners and programme teams, and export ready‑to‑share outputs (web, deck, dashboard) to keep stakeholders aligned on priorities and progress.
Insights into specific areas of civil engineering education
