Student Voice Analytics for Human Geography — UK student feedback 2018–2025

Scope. UK NSS open-text comments for Human Geography (CAH26-01-03) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ≈3,159 comments; 97.5% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. Roughly 50.8% Positive, 44.8% Negative, 4.4% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.13:1).

What students are saying

Across the period, one theme stands out for Human Geography cohorts: industrial action. Strike Action accounts for around one in twelve comments (≈8.1%) and is strongly negative in tone (sentiment index ≈ −61.8), broadly in line with the sector’s own negativity on this topic. Cohorts affected by strikes use their free-text responses to describe lost contact, disrupted teaching sequences and uncertainty around assessment arrangements.

Set against that headwind, students talk positively about the core academic experience. Learning opportunities attract sustained praise: “Placements/fieldwork/trips” (≈6.8%) and “Type and breadth of course content” (≈6.8%) carry clearly positive tone, with fieldwork/trips especially strong (index ≈ +42.7 and well above sector). Students also welcome “Module choice/variety” (≈6.6%, positive) and show confidence in “Teaching Staff” (≈6.0%, index ≈ +41.5, above sector). The people-centred elements around “Personal Tutor” and “Availability of teaching staff” are reassuringly positive when mentioned.

Assessment and feedback is the main friction. “Feedback” (≈6.7%) leans negative (≈ −24.7) and sits below sector on tone; “Marking criteria” (≈3.7%) is strongly negative (≈ −47.3). “Assessment methods” are closer to neutral overall (≈ −11.9) and trend better than sector, while “Dissertation” comments (≈4.1%) are mildly negative, broadly at sector. The consistent message is clarity: students want criteria they can use, exemplar work, and predictable turnaround times.

On delivery and operations, the conversation is relatively contained compared with some disciplines. A practical “delivery & ops” cluster covering placements, scheduling, organisation, course communications, remote learning, contact time and workload accounts for roughly 16.0% of comments. Within that, “Remote learning” (≈2.1%) trends slightly negative and “Scheduling/timetabling” (≈1.3%) sits near sector on tone. “Costs/Value for money” appears in a smaller share (≈2.1%) but is among the most negative topics (≈ −62.7), reflecting perceptions of overall return rather than a single course feature.

Top categories by share (human geography vs sector):

Category	Section	Share %	Sector %	Δ pp	Sentiment idx	Δ vs sector
Strike Action	Others	8.1	1.7	6.4	−61.8	+1.3
Placements/ fieldwork/ trips	Learning opportunities	6.8	3.4	3.4	+42.7	+30.9
Type and breadth of course content	Learning opportunities	6.8	6.9	−0.2	+27.1	+4.5
Feedback	Assessment & feedback	6.7	7.3	−0.7	−24.7	−9.6
Module choice / variety	Learning opportunities	6.6	4.2	2.4	+22.3	+4.9
Teaching Staff	The teaching on my course	6.0	6.7	−0.8	+41.5	+6.0
Student support	Academic support	5.4	6.2	−0.9	+2.9	−10.3
Dissertation	Assessment & feedback	4.1	1.1	2.9	−11.2	−0.6
Marking criteria	Assessment & feedback	3.7	3.5	0.2	−47.3	−1.6
Assessment methods	Assessment & feedback	3.3	3.0	0.3	−11.9	+11.8

Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)

Category	Section	Share %	Sector %	Δ pp	Sentiment idx	Δ vs sector
Costs / Value for money	Others	2.1	1.6	0.5	−62.7	−9.9
Strike Action	Others	8.1	1.7	6.4	−61.8	+1.3
Marking criteria	Assessment & feedback	3.7	3.5	0.2	−47.3	−1.6
COVID-19	Others	3.3	3.3	−0.1	−42.7	−9.8
Feedback	Assessment & feedback	6.7	7.3	−0.7	−24.7	−9.6
Assessment methods	Assessment & feedback	3.3	3.0	0.3	−11.9	+11.8
Dissertation	Assessment & feedback	4.1	1.1	2.9	−11.2	−0.6

Shares are the proportion of all Human Geography 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
Placements/ fieldwork/ trips	Learning opportunities	6.8	3.4	3.4	+42.7	+30.9
Teaching Staff	The teaching on my course	6.0	6.7	−0.8	+41.5	+6.0
Availability of teaching staff	Academic support	2.3	2.1	0.2	+40.0	+0.7
Personal Tutor	Academic support	2.7	3.2	−0.4	+32.7	+14.0
Student life	Learning community	3.3	3.2	0.1	+32.3	+0.2
Type and breadth of course content	Learning opportunities	6.8	6.9	−0.2	+27.1	+4.5
Module choice / variety	Learning opportunities	6.6	4.2	2.4	+22.3	+4.9

What this means in practice

Protect the student journey during disruptions. Where industrial action is likely, publish clear mitigations early: what will be rescheduled, how learning outcomes will still be met, and exactly how assessment will be adjusted. Keep a single, authoritative update channel and timestamp changes so students can see progress.
Keep assessment clarity front and centre. Students are asking for criteria they can use. Provide annotated exemplars, checklist-style rubrics, and a realistic feedback service level so expectations and timelines are transparent—especially around Feedback, Marking criteria and Dissertation supervision.
Double down on what’s working. Fieldwork and trips are a distinctive strength, as are the people-facing elements (Teaching Staff, Personal Tutor, staff availability). Preserve the structure that makes these successful: pre-briefs, clear roles, timely debriefs, and inclusive access arrangements.
Be explicit about value. Given the strength of negative feeling around Costs/Value for money, make inclusions/exclusions explicit (e.g., fieldwork costs, printing, specialist software), show where efficiencies have been made, and connect investments directly to outcomes students value.

Data at a glance (2018–2025)

Top topics by share are stable: Strike Action (≈8.1%), Placements/fieldwork/trips (≈6.8%), Type and breadth of course content (≈6.8%), Feedback (≈6.7%), Module choice/variety (≈6.6%), Teaching Staff (≈6.0%).
Cluster view:
- Delivery & ops cluster (placements, scheduling, organisation, comms, remote, contact time, workload): ≈16.0% of all comments.
- People & growth cluster (personal tutor, student support, teaching staff, availability, delivery of teaching, personal development, student life, career guidance): ≈26.2%.
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 by year so you can see whether changes are working across the whole institution and within specific schools, departments and programmes.

It also 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. Segment results by site/provider, cohort or year to target interventions where they will move sentiment most. Finally, concise, anonymised summaries and export-ready outputs (web, deck, dashboard) make it straightforward to brief programme teams and stakeholders without trawling thousands of comments.