QAA Cymru report considers student satisfaction in subjects of concern

QAA Cymru has published the summary report of a Thematic Subject Review (TSR) commissioned by Medr, Wales's Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, which considered the efficacy of responses across a number of institutions to low satisfaction scores in the National Student Survey experienced over three or more years by specific subject areas.

The TSR was conducted by a team of four independent expert reviewers, including a student reviewer, and included a series of one-day site visits to participating institutions in March 2026.

The review observed that academic staffing is the factor with the single highest impact on student satisfaction, and that staff vacancies and prolonged absences therefore can impact negatively upon the student experience. It nevertheless found that, despite on-going issues of staffing capacity, institutions and programme teams have continued to take appropriate actions to address specific issues arising from the NSS.

The report also identified such issues as the provision of learning resources, programme coherence and timetabling as significant factors in determining student satisfaction.

It found that in the subject areas under consideration similar issues were being tackled by multiple institutions, and that despite the best efforts of their action plans the trajectories of their NSS scores did not improve as fast as the institutions would have expected. However, the report noted that aspects of the student experience such as industry and employer engagement, professional accreditation and professional services support were working well and were appreciated by students.

Institutions reported that ensuring active student engagement in student voice mechanisms has been an ongoing issue, despite campaigns to raise awareness and a range of different opportunities to engage; but a number of institutions involved in the review have increased student engagement, particularly where students have been employed to act as student coaches or engagement officers.

The TSR report presents a set of recommendations for Medr and for the sector more generally in respect of the provision of support for subject areas whose NSS results persistently fall below threshold expectations. These include support for practice-sharing initiatives, clarification of requirements in relation to action planning processes, and opportunities for critical reflection on the impacts of interventions.

The full report is available on the QAA website.

We have also published a practical resource NSS Thematic Subject Review , for QAA members, based on the findings of the report.