Surveys

The University undertakes the following applicant and University-wide student surveys to provide prospective and current students with an opportunity to have their say about Oxford. Results are used to identify strengths and weaknesses and to put in place changes to help improve the student experience of Oxford. A summary of each surveys findings is provided to Education Committee and Senior Tutors' Committee, and through membership of these committees, the Oxford University Student Union. Detailed data is distributed to specific central services, academic division offices, and to colleges, to disseminate and review as appropriate. Certain data is also available to staff from the restricted access AAD Weblearn Surveys site. Please contact student.information@admin.ox.ac.uk for access.

Students are able to view survey results from the Student Gateway.

Departments and faculties also carry out surveys on individual courses and use lecture questionnaires to gain feedback on the quality of lectures. The views of students are represented by undergraduate and postgraduate Joint Consultative Committees (JCC). Colleges collect feedback from students through tutorial evaluation questionnaires, college questionnaires, students and Tutors/College Advisers meetings, and annual meetings between students and their Senior Tutor and/or Head of House.

Graduate applicants

An annual survey of all candidates who submit a graduate application and receive an offer, but who subsequently fail to take up that offer. The aim of the survey is to gain a clear understanding of the reasons why graduate applicants do not to take up their offer to study at Oxford. For further details please contact wendy.botwe@admin.ox.ac.uk.

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All full-time students: Student Barometer

The Barometer surveys full time undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research students. Final year undergraduates are excluded as they are surveyed in the National Student Survey (NSS). The survey is administered by an external company, i-graduate, and enables us to benchmark Oxford student responses against those of 120 other universities. The survey covers the whole student experience including application, teaching and pastoral support, and contains questions specific to both colleges and departments. The responses can be split by course, department, college and level of study. It is a key tool by which the University and colleges receive feedback on the student experience. Data from 2010 onwards is available to view in Tableau via the link below, while pre-2010 data is available from the AAD WebLearn Surveys site. Please contact jared.hutchings@admin.ox.ac.uk for access to this data. The survey questionnaire is available below.

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Undergraduate students

a) National Student Survey

A survey of all undergraduates in the final year of their course. Survey results are made available to the public through the Unistats website for those courses (expressed in JACS) that achieved a response rate of more than 50%. Oxford summary results:


b) Oxford Student Experience Questionnaire (OSCEQ)

This was an Oxford-only survey of undergraduate students developed by the Oxford Learning Institute. For surveys covering 2001-2008, OSCEQ was undertaken with undergraduate students in their final year. The University no longer runs this survey. For historical data (2001-8), please contact jared.hutchings@admin.ox.ac.uk

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Taught Master's students

Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES)

This survey is co-ordinated by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), and is used by over 30 other universities. The University no longer participates in this survey.

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Research students

a) Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES)

This survey is co-ordinated by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), and is used by over 70 other universities, including most Russell Group universities. The University no longer participates in this survey.

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International students

International Student Barometer survey

This is a survey of our undergraduate and postgraduate international students, and is also used by over 60 other universities. Oxford students have been invited to complete the survey in Michaelmas and Trinity term each year. From 2009/10, students will be surveyed once per academic year (in Michaelmas) as part of the Student Barometer.

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Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education

The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey asks what leavers were doing six months after they qualified from their course to provide detailed analysis of career paths.

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Students with disabilities

In Michaelmas term 2010, the University surveyed students with disabilities, long-term health conditions and specific learning difficulties. Students with disabilities 2010 (49kb). Students with any of these impairments were surveyed if:

  • They were undergraduates and in their second year or beyond
  • They were postgraduate taught students on a one year course in the previous academic year, or postgraduate taught students in the second year of a two year course
  • They were postgraduate research students
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