Nearly 1 in 4 comments mention placements — medicine by specialism feedback
Scope. UK NSS open‑text comments for Medicine by Specialism (CAH01-01-03) across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ~155 comments; 98.1% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. 59.9% Positive, 38.8% Negative, 1.3% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.54:1).
What students are saying
The conversation is led by practice-facing experience. Nearly one in four comments focus on Placements/fieldwork/trips (23.7% share), and the tone here is strongly positive (sentiment index +27.8), well above the sector baseline for the same topic. In short, placement exposure is seen as a highlight, not a pain point.
Alongside this, students comment on the delivery mechanics of the course. Scheduling/timetabling attracts a meaningful share (4.6%) and is notably negative (−34.1), sitting below sector on tone. Remote learning is present but generally positive (+11.6), and overall organisation appears in smaller volumes. Taken together, the delivery & operations cluster (placements, scheduling, organisation, workload and remote) accounts for roughly 34.8% of all comments.
People-centred support stands out. Student support (+76.1), Availability of teaching staff (+88.1), Teaching Staff (+48.7), Delivery of teaching (+20.5) and Personal development (+75.7) are consistently positive and, in most cases, substantially above sector on tone. These themes also span multiple parts of the student journey, suggesting a coherent experience of approachable staff, growth and value in day‑to‑day teaching.
Assessment and feedback is mixed. Feedback itself is close to neutral (−1.5) and less negative than the sector; Assessment methods is negative (−10.5) but again above sector tone; and Dissertation is notably positive (+27.3) compared with a negative sector picture. The pattern points to familiar levers: clarity of expectations and consistency in how methods and criteria are communicated.
Top categories by share (discipline vs sector):
| Category |
Section |
Share % |
Sector % |
Δ pp |
Sentiment idx |
Δ vs sector |
| Placements/ fieldwork/ trips |
Learning opportunities |
23.7 |
3.4 |
20.3 |
27.8 |
16.0 |
| Feedback |
Assessment and feedback |
7.2 |
7.3 |
-0.1 |
-1.5 |
13.5 |
| Student support |
Academic support |
6.6 |
6.2 |
0.4 |
76.1 |
62.9 |
| Type and breadth of course content |
Learning opportunities |
5.3 |
6.9 |
-1.7 |
35.9 |
13.3 |
| Delivery of teaching |
The teaching on my course |
4.6 |
5.4 |
-0.8 |
20.5 |
11.7 |
| Teaching Staff |
The teaching on my course |
4.6 |
6.7 |
-2.1 |
48.7 |
13.1 |
| Personal development |
Learning community |
4.6 |
2.5 |
2.1 |
75.7 |
15.9 |
| Scheduling/ timetabling |
Organisation and management |
4.6 |
2.9 |
1.7 |
-34.1 |
-17.5 |
| Remote learning |
The teaching on my course |
3.9 |
3.5 |
0.5 |
11.6 |
20.6 |
| Dissertation |
Assessment and feedback |
3.9 |
1.1 |
2.8 |
27.3 |
38.0 |
Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category |
Section |
Share % |
Sector % |
Δ pp |
Sentiment idx |
Δ vs sector |
| Scheduling/ timetabling |
Organisation and management |
4.6 |
2.9 |
1.7 |
-34.1 |
-17.5 |
| Student voice |
Student voice |
2.0 |
1.8 |
0.2 |
-18.2 |
1.1 |
| Assessment methods |
Assessment and feedback |
3.9 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
-10.5 |
13.3 |
| General facilities |
Learning resources |
2.6 |
1.8 |
0.9 |
-9.9 |
-33.3 |
| Feedback |
Assessment and feedback |
7.2 |
7.3 |
-0.1 |
-1.5 |
13.5 |
Most positive categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category |
Section |
Share % |
Sector % |
Δ pp |
Sentiment idx |
Δ vs sector |
| Availability of teaching staff |
Academic support |
2.6 |
2.1 |
0.5 |
88.1 |
48.8 |
| Student support |
Academic support |
6.6 |
6.2 |
0.4 |
76.1 |
62.9 |
| Personal development |
Learning community |
4.6 |
2.5 |
2.1 |
75.7 |
15.9 |
| Library |
Learning resources |
2.6 |
1.8 |
0.8 |
66.8 |
40.1 |
| Teaching Staff |
Teaching |
4.6 |
6.7 |
-2.1 |
48.7 |
13.1 |
| Career guidance, support |
Learning community |
2.0 |
2.4 |
-0.4 |
46.8 |
16.7 |
| Student life |
Learning community |
2.6 |
3.2 |
-0.5 |
42.3 |
10.2 |
What this means in practice
-
Protect and scale what works in placements. Treat placements/fieldwork as a designed service: confirm capacity early, make expectations visible to students and hosts, and keep a reliable, single source of truth for any changes. Use quick, structured check‑ins to keep the experience consistently positive.
-
Fix the operational rhythm. Scheduling stands out as a friction point. Name an owner, publish a clear change policy and timetable “lock” dates, and issue short weekly updates that explain what changed and why. These basics reduce uncertainty and lift sentiment across related categories.
-
Make assessment clarity non‑negotiable. Students respond well when they can see what good looks like. Use checklist‑style rubrics, annotated exemplars, and realistic feedback SLAs; align “assessment methods” choices with published learning outcomes, and signpost any non‑standard formats well in advance.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Top topics by share: Placements/fieldwork (≈23.7%), Feedback (≈7.2%), Student support (≈6.6%), Type & breadth of course content (≈5.3%), then Delivery of teaching / Teaching Staff / Personal development / Scheduling (each ≈4.6%).
- Clusters: Delivery & ops (placements, scheduling, organisation, workload, remote) ≈34.8% of all comments; People & growth (personal tutor/support, teaching staff, delivery, personal development, student life) ≈26.9%. Assessment & feedback topics together ≈15.7%, with mixed 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), calculated at sentence level and averaged by category.
How Student Voice Analytics helps you
Student Voice Analytics turns open‑text into clear priorities. It tracks topics and sentiment over time so programme, department and school teams can see what matters most and whether actions are working, across the whole institution and at fine‑grained levels.
It also enables like-for-like sector comparisons across CAH codes and demographics, showing whether your discipline is moving relative to the right peer group. You can segment by site/provider, cohort and year of study (and by demographics such as domicile, mode of study, campus/site, commuter status), generate concise anonymised summaries for programme teams and external partners, and export results to share in reports, decks or dashboards.