Student survey frequently asked questions

Final year undergraduates and final year foundation students (who are not on a one year course) should complete the National Student Survey before 30 April 2013.

First and second year undergraduates, foundation students not in their final year (or on a one year course), and postgraduate taught students should complete the Student Experience Survey, which will be available from 27 February 2013.

For the National Student Survey, you just need some basic information to identify yourself, such as your student ID number.

For the Student Experience Survey, you can log in using your normal UWE username in uppercase (eg A2-STUDENT) and your student ID number as the password (not your normal network password).

The National Student Survey is available to most final year undergraduate students, but we know that sometimes students who think they should be included have difficulties accessing the survey.

There may be some reasons why you have been excluded from the sample – these are most commonly:

• you have been asked to participate in the survey in a previous academic year
• you are a new or exchange student only studying your final year with us
• in the 2011/12 academic year you were away from your course on a “time-out”
• your course does not end during the expected time period to be eligible for the survey (1 February 2013 - 31 January 2014), or it has been difficult to calculate your course end date
• your course is a short course, or for less than one year.

If you fall into any of these categories, then this explains why you cannot access the survey. If you do not fall into these categories, and are still having problems, then please e-mail the Dean of Students Office, giving your name, student ID, and detailing what problems you are having. We will do our best to help you out as quickly as possible.

If you are having difficulty with the Student Experience Survey, which is available to taught students not included in the National Student Survey, you should also e-mail the Dean of Students Office with the details of your problems and we can assist you.

The Student Experience Survey is available to most students who are not in their final year. All eligible students will have been sent an invitation to their UWE e-mail address, and their personal address if we have one on our records.

If you have received this e-mail, you are definitely eligible. Please also check your spam folders in case the e-mail was misdirected.

You can complete the survey online by logging in using your normal UWE username in uppercase (eg A2-STUDENT) and your student ID as your password (eg 01234567) and not your normal password.

If you continue to have problems, please contact deanofstudents@uwe.ac.uk.

National Student Survey

The main National Student Survey questions take around five minutes to complete – there is an optional bank of questions asked online which will take a further 5 - 10 minutes if you choose to complete them. If you complete the survey online before the 28 February, you will be entered in a prize draw to win one of fifteen prizes of Love2Shop vouchers ranging in value from £50 to £250.

Student Experience Survey

The Student Experience Survey will take around 10-15 minutes to complete fully. By completing the Student Experience Survey online and providing your e-mail address (optional) then you are eligible to be entered into a prize draw to win one of fifteen prizes of Love2Shop vouchers ranging in value from £50 to £250. If you enter your e-mail address, it will only be used for administering the prize draw, and is not tied to your answers in the analysis of the results in any way.

National Student Survey

Results for the National Student Survey are completely anonymous, and the University is never informed individually who has or has not completed the survey.

Ipsos MORI, who administer the survey, manage the prize draw and only provide the University with the winners details, and not their individual responses.

Student Experience Survey

For the Student Experience Survey, we will use data within your student record to ensure that your results are correctly attributed to your department and course.

Individual results will not be shared outside of the staff in Corporate and Academic Services and the Dean of Students Office who administer the survey. No one connected with your course or services you use will know who has said what, so please feel confident in answering honestly.

If you choose to enter the prize draw, your e-mail address is used only for that purpose, and is removed before analysis of the data.

Results are taken very seriously by the University as they are a key form of student feedback (alongside the information we get from student representatives, and through other sources such as module feedback).

Each academic department, and many of our Professional Services (eg Library, IT Services), create annual action plans based purely around the results of these surveys, so they have a big influence on the management of your course and the University as a whole. These action plans are shared and discussed with the student representatives on your course – our aim is to have students involved not just through giving us the feedback, but also being part of the actions that take place afterwards to improve your experience. 

The results from the National Student Survey are also reported nationally and allow future students to evaluate courses, as well as being used internally alongside the Student Experience Survey results to build up a picture of the UWE student experience.

If you have more questions about the survey results, or want to discuss how the results have been used in your area, then please feel free to e-mail the Dean of Students Office in the first instance. You can also ask your student reps and staff within your department what previous results have been, and how they have been acted upon.

Yes. The National Student Survey is backed by both UWESU, and the National Union of Students. The Student Experience Survey has been developed internally with involvement from the Students’ Union. The results and associated analysis of the surveys are made available to the Students’ Union for their use in enhancing your student experience.