Member Article

Arts School Top In The North East For Student Satisfaction

Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD) is once again celebrating success as it is ranked the best in the north east for student satisfaction in the 2017 National Student Survey (NSS) when compared with institutions offering three-year BA (Hons) degrees.

The NSS is an annual national survey of final-year undergraduate students that runs across all publicly-funded higher education institutions in the UK, and CCAD was placed top of the north east league tables for the first time.

This year’s survey gives fresh insights into student engagement, with new questions on the learning community, learning opportunities and the student voice. The survey was revised in consultation with UK universities and colleges and their students. Its new and updated questions gather evidence that has not previously been available nationally.

91 percent of students were overall satisfied with CCAD, beating the benchmark of 81 percent and the national average of 84 percent.

The leading specialist arts college was also ranked in the top 20 percent of all institutions in the UK. Leading the way in student happiness at the college are the students from Costume Interpretation with Design and Photography, who both gave the college a 100 percent satisfaction rating.

CCAD has enjoyed success and achieved great results over the last few months, with the northern school of art awarded Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework in recognition of its outstanding quality of teaching. The university-level campus in Hartlepool was one of only two full-time degree providers to have done so in the north east, alongside the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

In addition, the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education results, announced in July, placed CCAD at 96.7 percent for graduate employment or further training six months after graduating – the highest for art and design employability in the country and overall fifth in the country when compared to all providers. Impressively, 83.2 percent of those leavers in employment were working at a professional or managerial level, well ahead of the UK rate of 71 percent for all undergraduate leavers and the national rate for relevant art and design graduates of 61 percent.

Martin Raby, Principal, Cleveland College of Art and Design, said: “It is a credit to the entire campus community that we can now say Cleveland College of Art and Design is the top institution in north east for student satisfaction. To top the tables for satisfaction, in addition to a Gold award in the Teaching Excellence Framework shows that we are delivering our degrees in the right way.

“At CCAD we have always been committed to offering our students the very best teaching and student experience in an intimate and creative environment, and our ranking in the NSS is testament to this. I would like to thank all the CCAD students that took the time to complete the student survey.”

Professor Madeleine Atkins, HEFCE Chief Executive, said: “The NSS continues to be the largest and most authoritative survey of its kind in the UK. Its role in gathering crucial evidence about the student experience in higher education has been enhanced this year by new questions on student engagement and updated questions to reflect the latest approaches to learning and teaching.

“The 2017 results show that students provide particularly positive feedback on the quality of teaching and on learning opportunities. Institutions will also, however, be considering carefully how they can continue to improve assessment and feedback, and their broader engagement with students.”

Professor Sir David Bell, Chair of the Student Information Advisory Group, said: “These excellent results show that our universities and colleges continue to offer a high-quality experience for their students. The National Student Survey is instrumental in driving improvements across an increasingly diverse higher education sector. It also plays a key role in supporting student choice. The revised survey which has been run in 2017 offers new insights on student engagement, a crucial component of a successful experience in higher education.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathryn Clapham .