On the 8 December 2016, a University of Bath Students’ Union policy was passed 219 – 130, mandating that the SU campaign to Boycott the National Student Survey.
The 2017 National Student Survey (NSS) will be used to allow the University of Bath to raise their fees based on their awards in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
What can we do about it?
The government has not listened to students and Students’ Unions who have consistently argued and lobbied against the flawed plans. The NSS will be the only place where students have any power and leverage left to force a rethink.
The University of Bath Students’ Union encourages students NOT TO FILL IN THE NSS!
Log in to sign the pledge
You will be inundated with emails asking you to fill in the NSS until either the deadline passes or you fill it in. However, there are some simple things you can do to stop it:
- Change your email settings so the emails go into your junk box
- Reply and ask them to stop sending you them
- You can opt out by using the final footer link on the NSS website
That’s all you need to do!
Why should I boycott the NSS?
The TEF will not only lead to increased fees, it could also damage the reputation of our University and in future devalue your degree. This is because it uses flawed arbitrary data that does not measure teaching excellence.
Students are at our most powerful when we work together. By boycotting the NSS, you are not allowing your voice to be used to damage the reputation of our institution, devalue your degree and raise fees.
The fewer students who fill in the NSS, the more the TEF is damaged. We are sending a strong message to the government: we will not be complicit with your agenda and our feedback won’t be used against us.
We need 50% of final year students (that's 1425 of you) to actively boycott the NSS for it to be completely discredited.
Our friends at UCL have put together this great video which sums up why you should boycott the NSS. Check it out!
What is the National Student Survey?
The NSS is a survey of final year undergraduate students used to measure course satisfaction. It was never intended to measure teaching excellence, or for it to be linked to funding and fees. The government is manipulating student feedback to create a false market and justify fee rises.
The survey is open from 6 February until 30 April.
What is the TEF?
The TEF is a rating system sorting universities into a Gold, Silver and Bronze category based on how they score in the following key set of metrics:
- The scores the University gets in the NSS
- The number of students who drop out of their courses
- What students end up doing once they graduate and how much they earn, ie. Graduate employment data
Every institution who enters the TEF and receives a ‘medal’ will be able to raise fees up to a different level based on what they get. Next year fees will be £9250, by 2026 tuition fees could be as high as £12,000!