NSS open-text research / 2026 edition
NSS open-text insights, organised for decisions.
Explore findings by student-experience topic or CAH3 subject. Each research brief is designed to show what changed, the weight of evidence and the practical implications for HE teams.
Research directory
Find the evidence you need
100 published briefs: 32 topics and 68 subjects
Student-experience topics
Explore patterns that cut across subjects, from assessment and feedback to course organisation, learning resources and student support.
The teaching on my course 3 TOPICS
Learning opportunities 4 TOPICS
Assessment and feedback 4 TOPICS
Academic support 4 TOPICS
Organisation and management 4 TOPICS
Learning resources 4 TOPICS
Learning community 5 TOPICS
Student voice 1 TOPICS
Others 3 TOPICS
CAH3 subjects
Compare subject-specific comment patterns within the Common Aggregation Hierarchy used across UK higher education.
Medicine and Dentistry CAH01
Subjects Allied to Medicine CAH02
Biological and Sport Sciences CAH03
Psychology CAH04
Veterinary Sciences CAH05
Physical Sciences CAH07
Mathematical Sciences CAH09
Engineering and Technology CAH10
Computing CAH11
Architecture, Building and Planning CAH13
Social Sciences CAH15
Law CAH16
Business and Management CAH17
Language and Area Studies CAH19
Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies CAH20
Education and Teaching CAH22
Combined and General Studies CAH23
Media, Journalism and Communications CAH24
Design, and Creative and Performing Arts CAH25
Geography, Earth and Environmental Studies CAH26
No published brief matches that search
Try a broader topic, a CAH code, or clear the filters to return to the complete research directory.
Read the evidence well
Three rules for using these findings
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Start with the change
Use 2026 against 2025 for the current signal. The 2023 questionnaire redesign means earlier years are context, not a continuous comparison.
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Check the evidence base
Counts refer to comments, not respondents. Small cuts are suppressed, and year-on-year claims appear only when both years meet the reporting threshold.
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Connect insight to action
Use topic patterns, subject context and sector comparisons together. Each brief translates the strongest evidence into practical questions for HE teams.
Method, provenance and limits
Evidence with its workings visible
This is independent Student Voice research based on authorised, aggregated analysis of NSS open-text comments. It is distinct from the official OfS quantitative NSS results. We do not publish raw comments or identifying text on these pages.
Deterministic supervised learning models identify topics and sentiment in each sentence. The same input produces the same output, making the analysis repeatable. One comment can count in each topic it mentions, so counts describe comments and topic mentions rather than individual students. Read the full NSS open-text analysis methodology before using a result in formal reporting.
Student Voice research team (2026). “NSS open-text insights by topic and CAH3 subject.” Student Voice AI. https://www.studentvoice.ai/nss-open-text-insights/
Source and scope
The source population is OfS NSS national undergraduate open-text comments. In 2026, 40,822 of 43,870 source comments were classified (93.1%); unclassified comments are excluded from mention-rate denominators. Public pages contain aggregate statistics and interpreted findings only, with no raw or personally identifying comment text.
How comments are analysed
A comment counts once in every topic it mentions, even when different sentences discuss different aspects of the student experience. Topic totals should not be added together as a respondent total.
Public reporting thresholds
A full public brief requires at least 100 comments overall and 3 reportable topics for a subject page or subject cuts for a topic page. Displayed cuts require at least 20 comments; a 2026 versus 2025 claim requires at least 30 comments in both years.
Comparability across years
The principal comparison is 2026 against 2025. The current questionnaire series is shown for 2023–2026, while 2018–2022 is kept as separate historical context because the NSS questionnaire changed in 2023.