Student Voice Analytics for Geography — UK student feedback 2018–2025
Scope. UK NSS open-text comments for Geography (CAH26-01-01) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ~639 comments; 97.8% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. Roughly 51.0% Positive, 45.0% Negative, 4.0% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.14:1).
What students are saying
Geography students talk most about the shape of their programme. The largest single topic is Module choice/variety (7.5% share), well above sector (+3.3 pp) and with a positive tone (index +25.1). Comments about the Type and breadth of course content also land strongly positive (index +27.7). Together, these point to students valuing having options and a coherent mix of content.
People-focused elements are a clear strength. Teaching Staff attract warm sentiment (index +47.3, above sector), and Delivery of teaching is positive too (index +27.7, well above sector). Student support appears frequently (7.0%) with a net positive tone. Personal Tutor is less commonly mentioned in this cohort (1.6% share, below sector) but is strikingly positive when it is raised (index +63.9).
Assessment & feedback is the main area of tension. Feedback (7.0%) trends negative (−22.1), with related issues seen in Marking criteria (−46.1) and Dissertation (−41.8). Assessment methods are mixed but comparatively stronger than sector (index −14.0 vs sector trend). The pattern is consistent with students wanting clearer expectations, timely, actionable feedback, and predictable marking.
Operational delivery matters, but it occupies a smaller proportion of comments than in some disciplines. The delivery & ops cluster (placements/fieldwork, remote learning, scheduling, organisation, and course communications) accounts for roughly one in six comments. Within this, Placements/fieldwork/trips are discussed more than sector (+3.4 pp) and skew positive overall, while Remote learning (−17.6) and Scheduling/timetabling (−25.5) carry a negative tone. COVID-19 (5.3% share) and Strike action (3.4%) also feature, as you’d expect, and lean negative. A small but important minority raise Costs/value for money (index −71.5), the lowest-toned topic in the file, albeit at low volume.
Top categories by share (geography vs sector):
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Module choice / variety | Learning opportunities | 7.5 | 4.2 | +3.3 | +25.1 | +7.7 |
| Feedback | Assessment & feedback | 7.0 | 7.3 | −0.3 | −22.1 | −7.0 |
| Student support | Academic support | 7.0 | 6.2 | +0.8 | +11.7 | −1.5 |
| Placements/ fieldwork/ trips | Learning opportunities | 6.9 | 3.4 | +3.4 | +14.9 | +3.1 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 5.4 | 6.7 | −1.3 | +47.3 | +11.8 |
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 5.4 | 6.9 | −1.5 | +27.7 | +5.1 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 5.3 | 3.3 | +1.9 | −38.8 | −5.9 |
| Delivery of teaching | The teaching on my course | 4.2 | 5.4 | −1.3 | +27.7 | +19.0 |
| Remote learning | The teaching on my course | 3.5 | 3.5 | +0.0 | −17.6 | −8.6 |
| Assessment methods | Assessment & feedback | 3.4 | 3.0 | +0.4 | −14.0 | +9.7 |
Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strike Action | Others | 3.4 | 1.7 | +1.6 | −60.3 | +2.7 |
| Marking criteria | Assessment & feedback | 2.7 | 3.5 | −0.8 | −46.1 | −0.4 |
| Dissertation | Assessment & feedback | 2.2 | 1.1 | +1.1 | −41.8 | −31.2 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 5.3 | 3.3 | +1.9 | −38.8 | −5.9 |
| Scheduling/timetabling | Organisation & management | 2.2 | 2.9 | −0.6 | −25.5 | −9.0 |
| Feedback | Assessment & feedback | 7.0 | 7.3 | −0.3 | −22.1 | −7.0 |
| Remote learning | The teaching on my course | 3.5 | 3.5 | +0.0 | −17.6 | −8.6 |
Most positive categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 5.4 | 6.7 | −1.3 | +47.3 | +11.8 |
| Student life | Learning community | 3.2 | 3.2 | +0.0 | +34.0 | +1.9 |
| Library | Learning resources | 2.9 | 1.8 | +1.1 | +29.0 | +2.2 |
| Delivery of teaching | The teaching on my course | 4.2 | 5.4 | −1.3 | +27.7 | +19.0 |
| Type & breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 5.4 | 6.9 | −1.5 | +27.7 | +5.1 |
| Module choice / variety | Learning opportunities | 7.5 | 4.2 | +3.3 | +25.1 | +7.7 |
| Career guidance, support | Learning community | 3.0 | 2.4 | +0.6 | +21.3 | −8.8 |
What this means in practice
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Protect and sharpen the value of choice. Keep module information current and comparable (learning outcomes, assessment types, study load). Back the selection window with clear advice and timely confirmations so students can plan around constraints like prerequisites and scheduling.
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Make assessment expectations unmissable. Provide annotated exemplars, checklist-style rubrics, and assessment briefings that show “what good looks like”. For projects/dissertations, schedule early scoping and mid‑point check‑ins, and publish realistic feedback turnaround standards.
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Tighten the operational rhythm. Stabilise timetables, minimise short‑notice changes, and use a single source of truth for course communications. Where remote elements persist, set expectations on format, availability (e.g., recordings), and routes to support.
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Build on staff strengths. Leverage the strong sentiment around Teaching Staff and Personal Tutor by formalising proactive touchpoints (e.g., early‑semester check‑ins, targeted signposting) and sharing good practice across modules.
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Fieldwork/placements. Where applicable, confirm logistics early, be transparent on costs/time commitments, and embed short, structured feedback moments to close the loop after activities.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Top topics by share: Module choice/variety (≈7.5%), Feedback (≈7.0%), Student support (≈7.0%), Placements/fieldwork/trips (≈6.9%), Teaching Staff and Type/breadth of content (each ≈5.4%), COVID‑19 (≈5.3%), Delivery of teaching (≈4.2%), Remote learning (≈3.5%).
- Delivery & ops cluster (placements/fieldwork, scheduling, organisation, course communications, remote learning): ≈15.2% of all comments.
- People & growth cluster (personal tutor, student support, teaching staff, availability of teaching staff, delivery of teaching, personal development, student life): ≈24.9%.
- Assessment & feedback topics (feedback, marking criteria, assessment methods, dissertation): ≈15.3%.
- 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, comparable priorities. It tracks topics and sentiment over time (by year) so programme teams can see which areas are moving and why, at whole‑institution level and down to schools and departments.
It also makes engagement practical: concise, anonymised theme summaries and representative comments help you brief committees, partner units and programme teams without trawling thousands of responses. Crucially, it enables like‑for‑like sector comparisons across CAH codes and by demographics (e.g., year of study, domicile, mode of study, campus/site, commuter status), so you can evidence improvement relative to the right peer group. You can segment by site/provider, cohort and year of study to target interventions, then export/share outputs (web, deck, dashboard) to show progress and next steps.
