Press Release

The Open University is ranked at the top for student satisfaction

22 September 2005

Students at The Open University are more impressed with the quality of their courses than those at any other university, based on the findings of the first National Student Survey.

The survey results, which are published today (Thursday, September 22), also show that the university achieved the highest overall score for assessment and feedback, and shared the highest overall score for organisation and management.

The results put the university at the top of a rankings table created today (Thursday, September 22) by the Times Higher Education Supplement. A second THES table on specific subjects shows that Open University students are more satisfied than those at any other university in ten subject areas of the 41 listed; no other university listed has achieved top ratings in as many subjects.

In the survey, participating students were asked to rate their universities on a range of measures, which also included teaching and learning resources. They were also asked to provide an “overall satisfaction” rating, for which the OU achieved 4.5 out of a possible five points – an achievement shared by the Royal Academy of Music.

Open University Vice-Chancellor Professor Brenda Gourley said that a range of factors had led to students rating the university so highly.
“Study with The Open University requires commitment and dedication to succeed. We make every effort to ensure that our course materials, support and systems are of the highest quality and the students’ commitment is matched by our own,” she said.

“We are delighted that – in rating the university so highly – our students recognise this commitment and acknowledge the success of the OU’s distinctive methods in supported open learning.

“Not only are we satisfying our students at a high level, we are doing so at a large scale. The OU has the largest student population of any UK university. More than that, because we do not require that our undergraduate students have any previous qualifications, we also commit ourselves to ensuring they have everything they need to succeed, whatever their background.”

The National Student Survey is part of the new Teaching Quality Information website, which went live earlier today (Thursday, September 22). The TQI site – at www.tqi.ac.uk – brings together key sources of official information about the quality of UK higher education. Most students who were near the end of undergraduate courses were invited to take part in the survey.