UCO celebrates strong student satisfaction in NSS results for 2024

UNIVERSITY Campus Oldham (UCO) is celebrating after its’ latest graduates rated it above the England sector average in every themed category of the National Student Survey (NSS) 2024

UCO, the Higher Education provision of Oldham College, has been empowering thousands of students to unlock their potential and ambitions for almost a quarter of a century.

Partnering with globally recognised universities and institutions to deliver accredited qualifications at its town centre site, UCO prides itself on developing homegrown talent in a learning environment that is continually shaped by student feedback.

The latest independent NSS survey, overseen by the Office for Students, asks final year undergraduate students about the quality of their course across all publicly funded higher education institutions and further education colleges (FECs) across England.

The NSS 2024 results come from 27 questions – with theme scores then created by adding the positive responses rates of related questions – and are seen as the national benchmark of success.

UCO received positive responses higher than the England sector average this year for each of the seven category themes including teaching, academic support, organisation and management, plus student voice.

Compared to all other Greater Manchester FECs, UCO also scored highest for its’ Learning Opportunities (94.3 per cent), Assessment and Feedback (92.5 per cent) and Learning Resources (87.4 per cent).

Sue Holden, UCO’s Assistant Principal, HE and Higher Skills, said:

“This is another superb set of NSS results and I want to thank all our students for their feedback and fantastic appreciation of what UCO has delivered for them.”

“Compared to last year’s survey, our student scores went up in five of the seven themed categories, which shows that we act on what these results tell us each year and have a strong culture of continuous improvement.

“It’s inspiring to see our student ratings make even further gains from an already high bar in terms of the support our staff provide across all courses. To again be scoring more than 90 per cent positive responses for our teaching, learning opportunities, academic support, assessment and feedback exemplifies the special community and learning environment we have at UCO. 

“Our students enjoy an experience here which is truly distinctive and enables them to ‘Study Near and Go Far’. Smaller class sizes mean we can offer the kind of personalised support they might not get somewhere else and – regardless of students’ background and circumstances – our track record shows we can set them on the path to excellent outcomes.”

Since opening in 2005, UCO’s talent pipeline has seen thousands of students achieving their goals at Foundation Degree and full Honours Degree level in partnership with institutions that include Sheffield Hallam University, University of Central Lancashire, University of Huddersfield, the Open University, Pearson and the Chartered Management Institute.

Other NSS 2024 highlights for UCO included:

• 97% of students agreeing their course had developed the knowledge and skills that they would need for their future (14% above England sector average)
• 97% of students saying they felt free to express their ideas, opinions and beliefs (10.7% above England sector average)
• 96% of students saying that staff were good at explaining things (9% above England sector average)
• 96% of students agreeing their course had the right balance of directed and independent study (18% above England sector average)
• 96% of students believing that teaching staff supported their learning (20% above England sector average)
• 97% of students saying their course assessments allowed them to demonstrate what they had learned (15% above England sector average)
• 94% of students agreeing their course had challenged them to achieve their best work (9% above England sector average).