Student Voice Analytics for Nutrition and Dietetics — UK student feedback 2018–2025
Scope. UK NSS open-text comments for Nutrition and Dietetics (CAH02-06-02) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ~494 comments; 99% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. Roughly 52.8% Positive, 43.8% Negative, 3.5% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.21:1).
What students are saying
Nutrition and Dietetics students most often talk about real‑world learning. Around one in eleven comments focuses on placements, fieldwork or trips (~8.8% share). The tone here is close to neutral (sentiment index −0.1) but it trails the sector on sentiment and is discussed more frequently than the sector (+5.4 pp). Where placement sentiment dips, the themes are familiar: predictability, timing and coordination.
A notable strand is the programme’s operational rhythm. Scheduling/timetabling appears in 5.7% of comments and is strongly negative (−34.2); the broader organisation/management of the course (2.9%, −29.9) and remote learning (3.9%, −17.9) also lean negative. Together with placements and course communications (albeit a small share at 1.0%), this delivery & operations cluster accounts for about 22.3% of all comments, signalling that reliability and clarity of delivery are key levers.
Against this, people‑centred strengths stand out. Students are very positive about Teaching Staff (6.7% share, +56.5) and the Availability of teaching staff (2.5%, +69.2). Student support (5.7%, +32.9), Delivery of teaching (4.5%, +23.2), Personal development (2.5%, +54.8) and Student life (2.9%, +41.3) are also positive. Career guidance/support attracts a healthy share (4.5%) with a positive tone (+32.6). Student voice is discussed more here than sector (+2.5 pp) and trends mildly positive (+3.6), markedly above the sector tone for this topic.
Assessment and feedback is the main friction point. Feedback (3.9%, −33.1), Assessment methods (3.3%, −35.2) and Marking criteria (2.2%, −48.4) are the most negative assessment topics, indicating a need for clearer expectations, usable rubrics and reliable turnaround. Opportunities to work with other students (3.3%, −23.0) are also a pain point when group work feels poorly designed or assessed.
Top categories by share (Nutrition and Dietetics vs sector)
| Category |
Section |
Share % |
Sector % |
Δ pp |
Sentiment idx |
Δ vs sector |
| Placements/ fieldwork/ trips |
Learning opportunities |
8.8 |
3.4 |
5.4 |
−0.1 |
−11.9 |
| Teaching Staff |
The teaching on my course |
6.7 |
6.7 |
0.0 |
+56.5 |
+20.9 |
| Student support |
Academic support |
5.7 |
6.2 |
−0.5 |
+32.9 |
+19.7 |
| Scheduling/ timetabling |
Organisation and management |
5.7 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
−34.2 |
−17.7 |
| Type and breadth of course content |
Learning opportunities |
5.5 |
6.9 |
−1.4 |
+19.3 |
−3.3 |
| Module choice / variety |
Learning opportunities |
4.5 |
4.2 |
0.3 |
+5.4 |
−12.0 |
| Career guidance, support |
Learning community |
4.5 |
2.4 |
2.1 |
+32.6 |
+2.6 |
| Delivery of teaching |
The teaching on my course |
4.5 |
5.4 |
−1.0 |
+23.2 |
+14.4 |
| Student voice |
Student voice |
4.3 |
1.8 |
2.5 |
+3.6 |
+22.8 |
| Remote learning |
The teaching on my course |
3.9 |
3.5 |
0.4 |
−17.9 |
−8.9 |
| Feedback |
Assessment and feedback |
3.9 |
7.3 |
−3.4 |
−33.1 |
−18.1 |
Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category |
Section |
Share % |
Sector % |
Δ pp |
Sentiment idx |
Δ vs sector |
| Marking criteria |
Assessment and feedback |
2.2 |
3.5 |
−1.3 |
−48.4 |
−2.7 |
| Workload |
Organisation and management |
2.5 |
1.8 |
0.6 |
−41.3 |
−1.3 |
| Assessment methods |
Assessment and feedback |
3.3 |
3.0 |
0.3 |
−35.2 |
−11.4 |
| Scheduling/ timetabling |
Organisation and management |
5.7 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
−34.2 |
−17.7 |
| Feedback |
Assessment and feedback |
3.9 |
7.3 |
−3.4 |
−33.1 |
−18.1 |
| Organisation, management of course |
Organisation and management |
2.9 |
3.3 |
−0.5 |
−29.9 |
−16.0 |
| Opportunities to work with other students |
Learning community |
3.3 |
2.0 |
1.3 |
−23.0 |
−24.0 |
Most positive categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category |
Section |
Share % |
Sector % |
Δ pp |
Sentiment idx |
Δ vs sector |
| Availability of teaching staff |
Academic support |
2.5 |
2.1 |
0.4 |
+69.2 |
+29.9 |
| Teaching Staff |
The teaching on my course |
6.7 |
6.7 |
0.0 |
+56.5 |
+20.9 |
| Personal development |
Learning community |
2.5 |
2.5 |
0.0 |
+54.8 |
−5.0 |
| Student life |
Learning community |
2.9 |
3.2 |
−0.3 |
+41.3 |
+9.2 |
| Student support |
Academic support |
5.7 |
6.2 |
−0.5 |
+32.9 |
+19.7 |
| Career guidance, support |
Learning community |
4.5 |
2.4 |
2.1 |
+32.6 |
+2.6 |
| Delivery of teaching |
The teaching on my course |
4.5 |
5.4 |
−1.0 |
+23.2 |
+14.4 |
What this means in practice
-
Stabilise delivery. The most efficient gains sit in timetabling and course operations. Name an owner for scheduling, publish a single source of truth for changes, and use a short weekly “what changed and why” update. For placements, confirm sites and logistics early and ensure students know who to contact when plans shift.
-
Make assessment transparent. Where Feedback, Assessment methods and Marking criteria are negative, publish annotated exemplars, checklist‑style rubrics and clear turnaround commitments. Calibrate markers and explain how criteria map to grades to reduce ambiguity.
-
Design collaboration on purpose. If working with other students is a friction point, specify roles, milestones and how group marks are allocated. Provide brief formative checkpoints to surface issues early.
-
Double down on people strengths. Teaching Staff and availability are clear assets. Maintain visibility and accessibility (e.g., clear office hours, prompt replies) and keep the supportive culture that drives positive sentiment in Student support and Delivery of teaching.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Top topics by share are stable: Placements (~8.8%), Teaching Staff (~6.7%), Student support and Scheduling (each ~5.7%), Type and breadth of course content (~5.5%), with Career guidance/support, Delivery of teaching and Student voice around 4–5%.
- Delivery & ops cluster (placements, scheduling, organisation/management, course communications, remote learning) accounts for ~22.3% of all comments and trends negative on key subtopics.
- People & growth cluster (personal tutor, student support, teaching staff, availability of staff, delivery of teaching, personal development, student life) accounts for ~25.6% and is strongly positive overall.
- 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 priorities you can act on. It tracks topics and sentiment over time, at whole‑institution level and down to schools, departments and programmes, so teams can focus on high‑impact areas like Scheduling, Organisation, Placements and Assessment clarity.
It provides concise, anonymised theme summaries and representative comments for programme teams and external partners, and supports like‑for‑like sector comparisons across CAH codes and by demographics (e.g., year of study, domicile, mode of study, campus/site, commuter status). You can segment by site/provider, cohort and year of study to target interventions, and export sharable outputs (web, deck, dashboard) to communicate priorities and progress efficiently.