Our students are very satisfied with their University experience at Durham, according to the National Student Survey 2025, where we achieved our strongest recent performance.
The National Student Survey (NSS), an independent annual survey, evaluates how satisfied students in the UK are with the quality of their experience at university.
The NSS considers the following seven areas: teaching on their course; learning opportunities; assessment and feedback; academic support; organisation and management; learning resources; and student voice.
Durham students are among the most satisfied in the country regarding their teaching, academic support and organisation and management, with Durham ranking in the top 10 across all of these measures.
Students were particularly positive about the ability of our staff to explain things and make subjects engaging, the fairness of the assessment process, and the level of intellectual stimulation provided by our courses. Students also scored the University 4th in the UK for giving them the opportunity to explore ideas and concepts in depth, demonstrating the quality of the research-led education on offer at Durham.
Durham also ranked in the top 10 for academic support, and saw significant improvements in assessment and feedback and learning opportunities.
We were particularly pleased to see, for the second year running, big increases in student satisfaction in relation to Student Voice. We will continue to work with our students, and the Students’ Union, on this priority.
Geography, Biosciences, Accounting, Music and Theology and Religion were rated particularly highly by students, when asked about the teaching on their course.
This is the definitive survey which gives students a voice. They have spoken, we have listened, and we are seeing the positive results of acting on students’ feedback.
Our results confirm our continued upward trajectory in this survey.
- Interested in studying at Durham? Explore our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. - Explore what makes the Durham student experience so special.- Find out more about how we rank against other universities.- Explore the NSS results in more detail.
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