The Northern School of Art is celebrating an extraordinary 91% student satisfaction rating for its degree courses against a national average of 76.3% following publication of the National Student Survey 2022 results.

The National Student Survey is conducted by an independent survey company on behalf of the Office for Students (OFS) each year. The Survey asks final year undergraduates to complete 27 questions about their experiences and satisfaction with the degree courses they have completed.

The School’s overall satisfaction level for students is significantly above the national average – indeed it surpasses the national average for every question.  OFS set a performance benchmark for every question and the School exceeds or meets them all.

Dr Martin Raby, Principal and Chief Executive at The Northern School of Art, said:

“In the month we celebrated the graduation of our talented class of 2022, I am delighted that these same young people have given such an overwhelming vote of confidence in their experience at The Northern School of Art.

“This graduating cohort of students has experienced the pandemic in each of their three years of undergraduate study and it is both pleasing and humbling that 91% expressed overall satisfaction with their learning experience.

“This result is a tribute to them and to the dedicated work of our staff who, in both normal times and when rising to the challenge of the pandemic, place the quality of student experience at the heart of what we do.

“I wish all our class of 2022 a bright and rewarding future.”

The Survey results show the School has outperformed the UK average across all of the 27 questions including key areas of student experience such as teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, learning community and student voice.

The Survey is fully anonymous to allow students the freedom to express their views, feedback includes: “great tutors and contact time with them”; “the resources available are incomparable” and “I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience, the whole place is so welcoming, supportive, calming, creative and just a lovely environment to be in. I will always recommend The Northern School of Art.”

Dr Raby continued: “This fabulous result demonstrates that we are a truly wonderful collaborative creative community and how we all worked together to in response to the challenges of the pandemic – providing students safe access to facilities, fully opening our campus as soon as was legally possible, extending our teaching year and delivering our 16 hours contact time promise for first and second years of study”.

The full results and comparative tables are available from the Office for Students website at www.officeforstudent.org.uk

The National Student Survey is an independent survey of all final year students in the UK; 87% of the School’s final year students responded to the survey.

The Northern School of Art is the only specialist creative college and higher education provider in the North East. It provides creative education and training from 6 years (National Saturday Club), with an Ofsted rating ‘Outstanding’ for its Further Education provision in Middlesbrough and a selection of highly specialist creative degrees at its Hartlepool campus (Screen, Stage, Design & Visual Arts).

The School is proud of its role in supporting the development of creative skills and industries in the North East and boasts an astonishing alumni.

For further information and about courses starting this September, please visit www.northernart.ac.uk or follow @TheNorthernArt