Student Voice Analytics for Others in Language and Area Studies — UK student feedback 2018–2025

Scope. UK NSS open-text comments for Others in Language and Area Studies (CAH19-04-09) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ~1,815 comments; 97.1% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. Roughly 51.7% Positive, 44.2% Negative, 4.1% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.17:1).

What students are saying

Students in this discipline talk most about the shape and delivery of their programme and how it is assessed. The single largest topic is Feedback (7.6% share), which leans negative (index −9.0) but is less negative than the sector baseline. Assessment Methods (2.2%) and Marking Criteria (2.4%) also draw criticism, particularly where expectations feel unclear or criteria are hard to apply consistently.

A notable feature of this subject area is the emphasis on the Year abroad (6.1% vs 0.6% sector), which attracts a mixed-to-slightly-negative tone (−3.2) and sits below the sector average for this topic. Comments here typically reflect the logistics and predictability of study abroad arrangements—how plans are communicated, how changes are handled, and how support is coordinated across teams.

Set against those frictions, people-centred categories are strong. Teaching Staff draw very positive sentiment (+49.6, well above sector), with students also valuing Personal Tutors (+40.4) and the Availability of teaching staff (+49.3). Student Support is net positive (+11.9). Delivery of teaching is only mildly positive (+6.4), and remote learning remains a pain point (−22.2) relative to sector.

In Learning Opportunities, both the Type and breadth of course content (7.1%, +14.7) and Module choice/variety (6.4%, +19.7) are well represented and broadly positive. Some topics are less prominent than in the wider sector—Placements/fieldwork/trips (0.4% vs 3.4%) and Opportunities to work with other students (0.6% vs 2.0%) appear relatively infrequently.

Top categories by share (discipline vs sector):

Category	Section	Share %	Sector %	Δ pp	Sentiment idx	Δ vs sector
Feedback	Assessment and feedback	7.6	7.3	+0.3	-9.0	+6.0
Type and breadth of course content	Learning opportunities	7.1	6.9	+0.2	+14.7	-7.9
Teaching Staff	The teaching on my course	7.1	6.7	+0.3	+49.6	+14.1
Module choice / variety	Learning opportunities	6.4	4.2	+2.2	+19.7	+2.3
Year abroad	Organisation and management	6.1	0.6	+5.5	-3.2	-11.3
Student support	Academic support	5.5	6.2	-0.7	+11.9	-1.2
Delivery of teaching	The teaching on my course	5.0	5.4	-0.5	+6.4	-2.4
Organisation, management of course	Organisation and management	4.9	3.3	+1.5	-18.2	-4.2
Learning resources	Learning resources	4.8	3.8	+1.0	+12.0	-9.4
Remote learning	The teaching on my course	4.3	3.5	+0.8	-22.2	-13.2

Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)

Category	Section	Share %	Sector %	Δ pp	Sentiment idx	Δ vs sector
Strike Action	Others	2.4	1.7	+0.7	-62.6	+0.4
COVID-19	Others	2.3	3.3	-1.1	-45.8	-12.9
Marking criteria	Assessment and feedback	2.4	3.5	-1.1	-45.7	0.0
Scheduling/timetabling	Organisation and management	2.4	2.9	-0.4	-33.6	-17.0
Assessment methods	Assessment and feedback	2.2	3.0	-0.8	-32.7	-9.0
Remote learning	The teaching on my course	4.3	3.5	+0.8	-22.2	-13.2
Organisation & management of course	Organisation and management	4.9	3.3	+1.5	-18.2	-4.2

Shares are the proportion of all 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	+55.0	-4.8
Teaching Staff	The teaching on my course	7.1	6.7	+0.3	+49.6	+14.1
Availability of teaching staff	Academic support	2.2	2.1	+0.1	+49.3	+10.0
Personal Tutor	Academic support	3.1	3.2	-0.1	+40.4	+21.8
Student life	Learning community	2.5	3.2	-0.7	+30.0	-2.1
Module choice / variety	Learning opportunities	6.4	4.2	+2.2	+19.7	+2.3
Type and breadth of course content	Learning opportunities	7.1	6.9	+0.2	+14.7	-7.9

What this means in practice

Treat the Year abroad as a designed service. Publish a clear annual timeline (application, selection, confirmation, pre‑departure), name an owner, and provide a single source of truth for destinations, changes and key requirements (e.g., visas/insurance). A simple weekly update and transparent change log reduce uncertainty and lift sentiment.
Make assessment clarity the default. Use checklist‑style marking criteria, share annotated exemplars, calibrate markers visibly, and set realistic feedback SLAs. Pair written feedback with brief feed‑forward guidance so students know what to do next.
Strengthen the operational rhythm. Consolidate course communications, stabilise timetabling with early lock‑points, and pre‑announce changes with reasons and mitigations. For remote learning, standardise platforms, test critical sessions, and provide quick-fix guides for common issues.
Protect and scale people‑powered strengths. Maintain access to Teaching Staff and Personal Tutors with published office hours and response‑time norms, and signpost contact routes prominently. Where students value module choice, make selection windows and constraints clear early.

Data at a glance (2018–2025)

Top topics by share: Feedback (≈7.6%), Type and breadth of course content (≈7.1%), Teaching Staff (≈7.1%), Module choice/variety (≈6.4%), Year abroad (≈6.1%), Student support (≈5.5%), Delivery of teaching (≈5.0%).
Delivery & ops cluster (Year abroad, placements, scheduling, organisation & course comms, remote learning) accounts for ≈19.5% of all comments and generally sits below sector on tone.
People & growth cluster (Teaching Staff, Personal Tutor, Availability of teaching staff, Student support, Delivery of teaching, Personal development, Student life) accounts for ≈28.0% and is consistently positive, with Teaching Staff, Personal Tutors and staff availability notably above sector.
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, sentiment and movement by year for every CAH discipline, so programme teams can focus on high‑impact categories like assessment clarity, Year‑abroad operations, timetabling, organisation, communications and remote learning. It also produces concise, anonymised theme summaries and representative comments for partners and programme teams, so you can brief stakeholders without wading through thousands of responses.

Most importantly, it lets you prove change on a like‑for‑like basis. You can run sector comparisons across CAH codes and by demographics (e.g., year of study, domicile, mode of study, campus/site, commuter status), and segment by site/provider, cohort and year to target interventions where they will move sentiment most. Institution‑wide and fine‑grained department or school views are available, with export‑ready outputs (web, deck, dashboard) to share progress across the organisation.