The University of Chester has retained its strong position in the National Student Survey (NSS) with Chester Students’ Union (CSU) holding its place as top in the region for the third year running.

According to this year’s NSS, published on August 12, 2015, the Students’ Union satisfaction rating has grown to 79% – an incredible 11% above the sector average.

The university has sustained its overall satisfaction rate of 88%, placing it third in the region, and positioning it 2% above the national average.

All final year students from every UK higher education institution are invited to participate in the NSS, which is independently administered by market research experts Ipsos MORI.

At the University of Chester, 72% of eligible students completed the evaluation. The NSS covers eight general feedback areas: teaching on my course, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, personal development, overall satisfaction and Students’ Union.

In addition to the 23 compulsory sections which form part of the published NSS results, universities have the option to select two additional questions from a set list of topics. These results provide data to help enhance the student experience but do not form part of the published survey.

In the North West, academic support at the university was rated at joint second. Assessment and feedback was rated fourth best in the North West.

Pro-vice-chancellor (corporate development and the student experience) Dr Chris Haslam, said: “The NSS is one of the most important sets of results for the university as the survey is all about the students, their experience and what they think about the institution.

“It is very encouraging for everyone at the university that we continue to have very high levels of student satisfaction and once again, we have achieved a really excellent set of scores across the whole institution, with some fantastic improvements in key areas.

“We are very happy with this strong vote of confidence in the university which is a reflection of the hard work and commitment of all our colleagues at the institution. These results will enable us to focus on further improvements to make the student experience even better in the future.”

The president of Chester Students’ Union, Jonathan Harper, added: “This is fantastic news, and we are all very proud of the hard work and enthusiasm displayed by all the CSU officers and staff.

“We always strive to make improvements and have even more support and activities planned for the coming academic year.”