University of St Andrews tops student satisfaction list

St Andrews University - credit Stuart Caie

St Andrews has topped a list of Scottish universities for student satisfaction.

According to the latest list produced by the UK-wide National Student Survey (NSS), satisfaction with the teaching and learning at St Andrews rose to 94 per cent to top the Scottish table.

Dundee University also recorded its highest satisfaction rate of 91 per cent, as did the Open University in Scotland, which had topped last year’s survey.

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Around 312,000 students took part in the survey across the UK.

Professor Lorna Milne, vice-principal of St Andrews, said: “Scottish universities are setting excellent standards in UK education and we are delighted that the NSS can be taken as such a positive endorsement of hard work and achievement in our sector.”

Susan Stewart, Director of The Open University in Scotland, said: “We have a very strong record in widening access to higher education and encouraging students from all sorts of backgrounds to study at degree level. Part of the reason for that success is the unrivalled levels of satisfaction OU students have reported over the last decade.”

Dundee University vice-principal Professor Karl Leydecker said: “Dundee is now in the top 10 in the UK for student experience, something we can be very proud of.

“This fantastic result has been achieved thanks to a huge collective effort by staff right across the university and in our partner organisations such as the NHS, working together with our students.”

City neighbours Abertay scored the highest among Scotland’s ‘modern universities’.

Scotland’s student unions fared less well in the survey, with a satisfaction rate of only 64 per cent across the country.