Information for students at partner institutions

Student involvement and feedback is a vital part of our University's approach to quality assurance and enhancement. All partner institutions are expected to have mechanisms in place to capture feedback from students at a module, course and institutional level and we oversee how our partner institutions respond to feedback received.

There are several ways for you to get involved in providing feedback.

Course reviews

Your views feed into our annual review of courses process and you'll be kept informed of actions taken in response to your feedback.

We also conduct periodic reviews of courses which are usually carried out every five years. A student representative is a member of the review panel and is able to make a direct contribution to the review.

External examiners' reports

Your course has an external examiner who we appoint to provide an independent overview of the processes relating to your course and its modules. The external examiner produces a report annually and this should be shared with you by your institution, so that you are aware of external feedback on the quality of your course.

New partnerships and courses

Student involvement is an important part of our processes for approving and reviewing partnerships and courses. You can contribute directly by attending approval and review panels to provide feedback on your learning experiences.

Surveys

You will be asked to take part in your institution's own satisfaction surveys as well as national student satisfaction surveys. The national surveys include:

• the National Student Survey (NSS) for final year undergraduate students
• the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) for students undertaking taught Masters level courses
• the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) for students undertaking a research course

You'll be provided with details of any surveys relevant to your studies that you need to take part in by your institution.

Student representation on committees

We encourage our partner institutions to include student representatives on relevant committees in their institution.

Responding to issues raised

We oversee any issues arising from student feedback (including national student survey data), through the annual review of courses process.

Appeals and complaints

If you're experiencing a problem, you should raise it with your institution in the first instance. Most issues can be resolved in this way.

If you wish to appeal against a decision of an examination board, you must do so in writing on an appeal form, stating fully and precisely the grounds for the appeal and submit it to your institution to be processed. All of our partner institutions have procedures in place to deal with student complaints, using a staged approach.

Information and guidance on the appeals and complaints procedures at your institution should be available in your student handbook or on the student area of your institution's website.