Student Voice Analytics for Sociology — UK student feedback 2018–2025
Scope. UK NSS open‑text comments for Sociology (CAH15-01-02) students across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume. ~6,647 comments; 97.6% successfully categorised to a single primary topic.
Overall mood. Roughly 51.8% Positive, 44.8% Negative, 3.4% Neutral (positive:negative ≈ 1.15:1).
What students are saying
Sociology students focus most on how they are taught and assessed. The largest single topic is Feedback (≈7.8% of all comments) and it trends negative (index −19.0), pointing to issues with usefulness, timeliness and clarity. That theme is reinforced by very negative sentiment around Marking criteria (−47.3). By contrast, Assessment methods are discussed less and trend closer to neutral (−11.7, notably better than sector), while Dissertation sits only slightly negative (−5.0).
The “people” dimension is a strength. Comments about Teaching Staff are strongly positive (+39.3, above sector), with Student support (+12.8), Availability of teaching staff (+32.6) and Personal Tutor (+18.5) also net‑positive. Students are upbeat about the Type and breadth of course content (+35.5) and Module choice/variety (+24.3), and Delivery of teaching is modestly positive (+12.0). Personal development is a clear high point (+59.8).
Operational topics appear less often but lean negative when they do: Remote learning (−15.1), Scheduling/timetabling (−22.3), Organisation and management of the course (−16.0), and Communication about course and teaching (−38.9). These comments typically ask for predictability, clear ownership and a single source of truth.
Contextual factors matter too. COVID‑19 (3.9% share; −40.7) and Strike Action (3.3%; −64.8) are material parts of the Sociology narrative. Costs/value for money is smaller by volume (1.7%) but strongly negative (−62.2). Compared with the sector, Placements/fieldwork/trips are seldom mentioned in Sociology (0.7% vs 3.4%) and are relatively positive (+22.4).
Top categories by share (Sociology vs sector)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 7.8 | 7.3 | 0.5 | −19.0 | −3.9 |
| Student support | Academic support | 7.5 | 6.2 | 1.3 | +12.8 | −0.4 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 7.1 | 6.7 | 0.4 | +39.3 | +3.7 |
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 6.8 | 6.9 | −0.2 | +35.5 | +12.9 |
| Delivery of teaching | The teaching on my course | 5.9 | 5.4 | 0.5 | +12.0 | +3.2 |
| Module choice / variety | Learning opportunities | 4.6 | 4.2 | 0.4 | +24.3 | +6.9 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 3.9 | 3.3 | 0.6 | −40.7 | −7.8 |
| Marking criteria | Assessment and feedback | 3.8 | 3.5 | 0.2 | −47.3 | −1.6 |
| Remote learning | The teaching on my course | 3.6 | 3.5 | 0.1 | −15.1 | −6.1 |
| Strike Action | Others | 3.3 | 1.7 | 1.6 | −64.8 | −1.8 |
Most negative categories (share ≥ 2%)
| Category | Section | Share % | Sector % | Δ pp | Sentiment idx | Δ vs sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strike Action | Others | 3.3 | 1.7 | 1.6 | −64.8 | −1.8 |
| Marking criteria | Assessment and feedback | 3.8 | 3.5 | 0.2 | −47.3 | −1.6 |
| COVID-19 | Others | 3.9 | 3.3 | 0.6 | −40.7 | −7.8 |
| Scheduling/ timetabling | Organisation and management | 2.4 | 2.9 | −0.5 | −22.3 | −5.8 |
| Feedback | Assessment and feedback | 7.8 | 7.3 | 0.5 | −19.0 | −3.9 |
| Organisation, management of course | Organisation and management | 2.2 | 3.3 | −1.1 | −16.0 | −2.1 |
| Remote learning | The teaching on my course | 3.6 | 3.5 | 0.1 | −15.1 | −6.1 |
Shares are the proportion of all Sociology 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 | 2.3 | 2.5 | −0.2 | +59.8 | −0.1 |
| Teaching Staff | The teaching on my course | 7.1 | 6.7 | 0.4 | +39.3 | +3.7 |
| Type and breadth of course content | Learning opportunities | 6.8 | 6.9 | −0.2 | +35.5 | +12.9 |
| Availability of teaching staff | Academic support | 3.2 | 2.1 | 1.1 | +32.6 | −6.8 |
| Career guidance, support | Learning community | 2.2 | 2.4 | −0.2 | +31.5 | +1.5 |
| Module choice / variety | Learning opportunities | 4.6 | 4.2 | 0.4 | +24.3 | +6.9 |
| Library | Learning resources | 2.7 | 1.8 | 0.9 | +24.1 | −2.6 |
What this means in practice
- Make assessment clarity the first lever. Publish annotated exemplars, checklist‑style rubrics and realistic turnaround standards; be explicit about weighting and threshold requirements. These simple moves directly address Feedback (−19.0) and Marking criteria (−47.3), the most influential negative themes.
- Consolidate the strengths around people and content. Capture and spread what students value in Teaching Staff (+39.3) and content design (+35.5), and make availability visible (+32.6). A short weekly teaching plan, clear signposting in VLEs and consistent module handbooks help sustain the positive tone in Delivery of teaching (+12.0).
- Reduce operational friction. Name an owner for Scheduling and Organisation, maintain a single “source of truth” for course communications, and pre‑announce change windows. Use simple templates for remote activities to reduce cognitive load and improve predictability.
- Plan for disruptions. Where strike action or public‑health impacts are likely, publish mitigation policies up front (learning continuity, assessment leniency, extensions) so students understand the pathway to fair outcomes.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Top topics by share: Feedback (≈7.8%), Student support (≈7.5%), Teaching Staff (≈7.1%), Type and breadth of course content (≈6.8%), Delivery of teaching (≈5.9%).
- Delivery & ops cluster (Placements, Scheduling, Organisation, Course communications, Remote learning): ≈10.4% of all comments overall, typically with a negative tone and mostly below sector on sentiment.
- People & growth cluster (Personal Tutor, Student support, Teaching Staff, Availability of teaching staff, Delivery of teaching, Personal development, Student life): ≈32.1% of comments, with consistently positive tone.
- Assessment & feedback topics (Feedback, Marking criteria, Assessment methods, Dissertation): ≈17.0% of comments, with a mixed but generally negative tone driven by clarity and timeliness.
- 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 to +100, 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 movement by year for every discipline, including Sociology, so teams can focus on high‑impact categories such as Feedback, Marking criteria, Teaching Staff and Scheduling. You get concise, anonymised theme summaries and representative comments for programme teams and external stakeholders without trawling thousands of responses.
It also lets you prove change on a like‑for‑like basis with like-for-like sector comparisons across CAH codes and demographics, and supports whole‑institution as well as fine‑grained department and school analysis. Segment by site/provider, cohort and year of study (and demographics such as domicile, mode of study, campus/site, commuter status), then export insights to share in reports, decks or dashboards.
