Student Voice Analytics for Journalism — UK student feedback 2018–2025
Scope. UK NSS open-text comments for Journalism (CAH24-01-04) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ≈911 comments; 96.9% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. Roughly 54.4% Positive, 41.8% Negative, 3.9% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.30:1).
What students are saying
Journalism students focus first on the people and the teaching itself. Comments about Teaching Staff carry the largest share (≈8.8%) and are strongly positive (sentiment index ~+41.3), ahead of the wider sector on tone. Students also speak positively about the Type and breadth of course content (7.8%) and Module choice/variety (5.0%), suggesting that the structure and variety of learning feel broadly right. Career guidance and support stands out: it attracts a larger share here than across the sector (6.3% vs 2.4%) and is warmly received (index ~+40.2).
Learning resources are a clear strength. Students are notably positive about the Library (index ~+58.9) and General facilities (+33.9), both featuring more heavily than in the sector overall. Delivery of teaching appears frequently (5.2%) and sits slightly positive; Personal development is a highlight, with a very strong tone (+70.4).
Assessment and feedback is more mixed. Feedback attracts volume (6.5%) and remains net negative (−11.7), albeit less so than sector. Marking criteria is strongly negative (−49.0) when expectations are unclear. Assessment methods is closer to neutral overall (−4.3). The pattern is familiar: clarity, exemplars and timely, actionable comments lift sentiment.
Operational delivery is a smaller footprint here than in many disciplines, but when it surfaces it tends to be negative. Organisation and management (−20.6), Remote learning (−14.7) and Scheduling/timetabling (−13.8) pull tone down, and course communications—though lower volume—are clearly fragile when changes aren’t well signposted. Contextual shocks matter too: Strike Action is unusually prominent (5.2%) and heavily negative (−64.1), and COVID-19 references remain present and negative.
Placements/fieldwork/trips are a minor part of the Journalism conversation by volume (1.7%), and when mentioned the tone is positive and well above sector (+33.6 vs sector +11.8).
Top categories by share (journalism vs sector):
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 8.8 | 6.7 | +2.1 | +41.3 | +5.8 |
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 7.8 | 6.9 | +0.9 | +23.4 | +0.8 |
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 6.5 | 7.3 | −0.9 | −11.7 | +3.4 |
| Career guidance, support | Learning community | 6.3 | 2.4 | +3.9 | +40.2 | +10.1 |
| Delivery of teaching | The teaching on my course | 5.2 | 5.4 | −0.2 | +6.6 | −2.2 |
| Strike Action | Others | 5.2 | 1.7 | +3.5 | −64.1 | −1.1 |
| Module choice / variety | Learning opportunities | 5.0 | 4.2 | +0.8 | +24.5 | +7.2 |
| General facilities | Learning resources | 5.0 | 1.8 | +3.2 | +33.9 | +10.5 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 3.6 | 3.3 | +0.3 | −36.7 | −3.8 |
| Marking criteria | Assessment and feedback | 3.4 | 3.5 | −0.1 | −49.0 | −3.3 |
Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strike Action | Others | 5.2 | 1.7 | +3.5 | −64.1 | −1.1 |
| Marking criteria | Assessment and feedback | 3.4 | 3.5 | −0.1 | −49.0 | −3.3 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 3.6 | 3.3 | +0.3 | −36.7 | −3.8 |
| Organisation, management of course | Organisation and management | 2.3 | 3.3 | −1.1 | −20.6 | −6.6 |
| Remote learning | The teaching on my course | 2.5 | 3.5 | −1.0 | −14.7 | −5.6 |
| Scheduling/ timetabling | Organisation and management | 2.2 | 2.9 | −0.7 | −13.8 | +2.7 |
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 6.5 | 7.3 | −0.9 | −11.7 | +3.4 |
Shares are the proportion of all Journalism 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal development | Learning community | 2.6 | 2.5 | +0.1 | +70.4 | +10.6 |
| Library | Learning resources | 2.5 | 1.8 | +0.7 | +58.9 | +32.2 |
| Teaching Staff | Teaching | 8.8 | 6.7 | +2.1 | +41.3 | +5.8 |
| Career guidance, support | Learning community | 6.3 | 2.4 | +3.9 | +40.2 | +10.1 |
| Student life | Learning community | 3.2 | 3.2 | +0.0 | +35.1 | +3.0 |
| General facilities | Learning resources | 5.0 | 1.8 | +3.2 | +33.9 | +10.5 |
| Learning resources | Learning resources | 2.0 | 3.8 | −1.7 | +31.5 | +10.1 |
What this means in practice
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Keep the centre of gravity on people. Students credit staff expertise and approachability and value clear, supportive career guidance. Protect time for meaningful contact, advice and referral; make ownership of careers support visible and easy to access.
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Make assessment clarity non‑negotiable. Publish annotated exemplars, use checklist‑style rubrics, and set a realistic, public feedback SLA. Bring marking criteria to life with brief calibration sessions so students can see what “good” looks like and how to get there.
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Reduce operational friction. Use a single, authoritative comms channel, name owners for scheduling and organisation, and introduce a short “what changed and why” update when plans shift. These small moves stop operational issues from dominating the narrative.
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Acknowledge and mitigate disruptions. Where strike action or similar shocks are unavoidable, explain decisions plainly, offer catch‑up routes, and keep a clear record of mitigations so students can see the plan and progress.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Top topics by share: Teaching Staff (8.8%), Type and breadth of course content (7.8%), Feedback (6.5%), Career guidance and support (6.3%), Delivery of teaching (5.2%), Strike Action (5.2%).
- Cluster view: Delivery & ops (placements, scheduling, organisation, comms, remote) ≈10.3% of all comments; People & growth (personal tutor, student support, teaching staff, availability of staff, delivery of teaching, personal development, student life) ≈26.0%, with consistently positive tone.
- How to read the numbers. Each comment is assigned one primary topic; share is that topic’s proportion of all comments. Sentiment is 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, sentiment and year‑on‑year movement for Journalism and every other discipline, at whole‑institution level and down to schools and departments, so teams can focus on the categories that matter most.
It also lets you prove change on a like‑for‑like basis. You get sector comparisons across CAH codes and by demographics (e.g., year of study, domicile, mode of study, campus/site, commuter status), plus segmentation by site/provider, cohort and year. Concise, anonymised theme summaries and representative comments make it easy to brief programme teams and external stakeholders without trawling thousands of responses. Export‑ready outputs (web, deck, dashboard) ensure priorities and progress are straightforward to share.
