Student Voice Analytics for Media Studies — UK student feedback 2018–2025
Scope. UK NSS open-text comments for Media Studies (CAH24-01-05) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ~2,467 comments; 97.6% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. Roughly 54.2% Positive, 42.5% Negative, 3.3% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.28:1).
What students are saying
Media Studies students talk most about the substance of their course and the people who deliver it. The single largest topic is the type and breadth of course content (≈8.5% share), which is generally positive in tone (sentiment index +13.9) but sits below a more upbeat sector benchmark for the same topic. Comments about Teaching Staff feature almost as strongly (≈8.2%) and are distinctly positive (+40.7), reflecting approachability, expertise and clarity.
Facilities are unusually prominent for this discipline (General facilities ≈5.7% vs 1.8% sector), and they draw a positive response (+33.2). Delivery of teaching (≈5.7%) is moderately positive and broadly in line with sector. Students also value people-centred support: Student support (+27.0), Availability of teaching staff (+52.2) and Personal development (+57.2) all read as strengths.
Assessment and feedback show a familiar pattern. Feedback appears in about 6.2% of comments and is negative overall (−9.3) though a little better than sector. Assessment methods (−14.5) and Marking criteria (−44.1) are the sharper pain points when expectations and standards are not transparent, or when students cannot see what “good” looks like.
Operational delivery matters but is less dominant by volume than in some disciplines. Organisation and management of the course (−22.7), Scheduling/timetabling (−29.2) and course communications (−40.8; smaller share) are the main sources of friction where they arise; Remote learning is negative (−9.2) but low share. Placements/fieldwork are rarely mentioned in this cohort (≈0.4%), which aligns with a largely campus-based experience. External factors cut through clearly: COVID‑19 (4.3%, −43.7) and Strike Action (3.2%, −70.4) carry strong negative sentiment.
Top categories by share (Media Studies vs sector):
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 8.5 | 6.9 | +1.6 | +13.9 | −8.7 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 8.2 | 6.7 | +1.5 | +40.7 | +5.1 |
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 6.2 | 7.3 | −1.1 | −9.3 | +5.8 |
| General facilities | Learning resources | 5.7 | 1.8 | +4.0 | +33.2 | +9.7 |
| Delivery of teaching | The teaching on my course | 5.7 | 5.4 | +0.2 | +8.9 | +0.2 |
| Student support | Academic support | 5.2 | 6.2 | −1.0 | +27.0 | +13.8 |
| Module choice / variety | Learning opportunities | 4.7 | 4.2 | +0.6 | +17.8 | +0.4 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 4.3 | 3.3 | +0.9 | −43.7 | −10.7 |
| Personal development | Learning community | 3.9 | 2.5 | +1.4 | +57.2 | −2.6 |
| Career guidance, support | Learning community | 3.6 | 2.4 | +1.2 | +23.3 | −6.8 |
Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strike Action | Others | 3.2 | 1.7 | +1.4 | −70.4 | −7.4 |
| Marking criteria | Assessment and feedback | 2.5 | 3.5 | −1.1 | −44.1 | +1.6 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 4.3 | 3.3 | +0.9 | −43.7 | −10.7 |
| Organisation, management of course | Organisation and management | 2.0 | 3.3 | −1.4 | −22.7 | −8.7 |
| Assessment methods | Assessment and feedback | 2.6 | 3.0 | −0.4 | −14.5 | +9.2 |
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 6.2 | 7.3 | −1.1 | −9.3 | +5.8 |
| Remote learning | The teaching on my course | 2.0 | 3.5 | −1.5 | −9.2 | −0.2 |
Most positive categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal development | Learning community | 3.9 | 2.5 | +1.4 | +57.2 | −2.6 |
| Availability of teaching staff | Academic support | 2.6 | 2.1 | +0.5 | +52.2 | +12.9 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 8.2 | 6.7 | +1.5 | +40.7 | +5.1 |
| General facilities | Learning resources | 5.7 | 1.8 | +4.0 | +33.2 | +9.7 |
| Student life | Learning community | 3.4 | 3.2 | +0.2 | +32.6 | +0.5 |
| Student support | Academic support | 5.2 | 6.2 | −1.0 | +27.0 | +13.8 |
| Learning resources | Learning resources | 2.3 | 3.8 | −1.4 | +26.2 | +4.8 |
What this means in practice
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Make the curriculum visible. Students welcome breadth and variety; they respond even better when links to outcomes and assessment are explicit. Publish topic maps and “how this will be assessed” signposts at module level.
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Bring assessment clarity forward. Use checklist-style rubrics, annotated exemplars, and brief “what we look for” videos. Aim for predictable feedback turnaround and a short, structured debrief so students can act on advice.
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Protect the operational rhythm. A single source of truth for schedules and changes, clear ownership of comms, and minimal late changes reduce negativity around organisation and timetabling.
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Invest in the human touch. Keep access to staff high and visible (office hours, response norms). Lean into strengths in Teaching Staff and Student support to sustain the strong personal development outcomes students report.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Top topics by share: Type and breadth of course content (≈8.5%), Teaching Staff (≈8.2%), Feedback (≈6.2%), General facilities (≈5.7%), Delivery of teaching (≈5.7%), Student support (≈5.2%), Module choice/variety (≈4.7%).
- Cluster view:
- Delivery & ops cluster (placements, scheduling, organisation, comms, remote): ≈7.7% of all comments; tone leans negative.
- People & growth cluster (personal tutor, student support, teaching staff, availability, delivery of teaching, personal development, student life): ≈30.2% with a strong positive tone 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 priorities you can act on. It tracks topics and sentiment over time (2018–2025) for Media Studies (CAH24-01-05) and every other discipline, so teams can see where teaching, assessment and operations are working—and where they are not—at whole‑institution level and down to schools and departments.
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 against the right peer group. Concise, anonymised theme summaries and representative comments help you brief partners and programme teams without trawling thousands of responses. You can segment by site/provider, cohort and year to target interventions precisely, and export findings to share in web, deck or dashboard formats.
