What are students actually saying about COVID-19 (NSS 2018–2025)?
COVID-19 remains a distinctly negative topic in NSS comments. The tone is consistently more critical among younger and full-time students and varies by subject, with some disciplines closer to neutral.
Scope: UK NSS open-text comments tagged to the COVID-19 topic across academic years 2018–2025.
Volume: 12,355 comments in this category (from 385,317 total); 100.0% with sentiment.
Overall mood: 28.7% Positive, 68.6% Negative, 2.7% Neutral (sentiment index −24.0).
What are students saying in this category?
- The overall tone is negative (index −24.0), with more than two-thirds of sentences classed as negative.
- Younger students drive most of the volume (69.4% of comments) and are more negative than mature students (−27.3 vs −16.8).
- Full-time students are more negative than part-time (−25.4 vs −19.9). Disabled students are slightly more negative than non-disabled (−25.8 vs −24.0).
- Tone varies by subject. Medicine and dentistry is near neutral (−0.4), while media/journalism (−36.3) and mathematical sciences (−34.2) are among the most negative. Subjects allied to medicine are better than average at −15.9.
Segment snapshot (single-year aggregate)
| Dimension | Group | Comments | Pos % | Neg % | Sentiment idx |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Young | 8,574 | 26.8 | 70.8 | −27.3 |
| Age | Mature | 3,356 | 33.0 | 63.7 | −16.8 |
| Mode | Full-time | 9,869 | 28.0 | 69.5 | −25.4 |
| Mode | Part-time | 2,036 | 30.7 | 66.0 | −19.9 |
| Sex | Female | 7,234 | 29.9 | 67.4 | −22.6 |
| Sex | Male | 4,677 | 26.5 | 70.9 | −27.0 |
| Disability | Disabled | 2,361 | 27.4 | 69.9 | −25.8 |
| Disability | Not disabled | 9,567 | 28.8 | 68.5 | −24.0 |
| Mode | Apprenticeship (small base) | 16 | 62.5 | 37.5 | 9.6 |
Subject mix within this topic (examples)
| CAH group | Comments | Share % | Sentiment idx |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects allied to medicine (CAH02) | 1,539 | 12.5 | −15.9 |
| Social sciences (CAH15) | 1,095 | 8.9 | −24.6 |
| Business and management (CAH17) | 760 | 6.2 | −28.7 |
| Psychology (CAH04) | 755 | 6.1 | −24.5 |
| Design/creative/performing arts (CAH25) | 667 | 5.4 | −26.7 |
| Biological and sport sciences (CAH03) | 615 | 5.0 | −22.3 |
| Medicine and dentistry (CAH01) | 285 | 2.3 | −0.4 |
| Media, journalism and communications (CAH24) | 138 | 1.1 | −36.3 |
What this means in practice
- Prioritise disruption-ready delivery
- Keep a simple, pre-agreed playbook for rapid shifts in teaching, assessment and access to resources.
- Maintain a single, up-to-date source of truth for changes; summarise what changed and why.
- Target support where sentiment is lowest
- Younger and full-time cohorts are most negative. Use timely micro-briefings, Q&A sessions and flexible access routes to reduce uncertainty.
- Ensure disability-related adjustments are explicit when arrangements change.
- Lift practice from stronger-performing areas
- Capture what medicine/dentistry and subjects allied to medicine did to keep tone closer to neutral (e.g., continuity of learning and assessment clarity) and adapt it for other disciplines.
- Small but positive apprenticeship feedback suggests value in structured work-integrated rhythms—test which elements scale.
- Make subject-level pain points visible
- For the most negative subjects (e.g., media/journalism, mathematical sciences), run short, time-bound reviews of assessment clarity, workload pacing and access to specialist activities, then publish specific fixes.
How Student Voice Analytics helps you
- Track topic volume and sentiment over time, then drill down from institution to school/department, cohort and site.
- Compare like-for-like across CAH groups and demographics (age, domicile, mode, commuter status), and segment by campus or provider.
- Generate concise, anonymised summaries and export tables/figures for rapid briefing to programme and quality teams.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Volume: 12,355 COVID-19 comments; 100.0% sentiment coverage.
- Overall mood: 28.7% Positive, 68.6% Negative, 2.7% Neutral (index −24.0).
- Cohort contrasts: young −27.3 vs mature −16.8; full-time −25.4 vs part-time −19.9; female −22.6 vs male −27.0; disabled −25.8.
- Subject variation: medicine and dentistry −0.4; subjects allied to medicine −15.9; media/journalism −36.3.
Subject specific insights on "COVID-19"
COVID-19 + (CAH19-01-03) literature in English
How did COVID-19 change English literature students’ experience?
A look at the challenges faced by literature students in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 + (CAH25-01-04) cinematics and photography
How did COVID-19 affect cinematics and photography students?
Exploration into how cinematics and photography students have been impacted by COVID-19.
COVID-19 + (CAH03-02-01) sport and exercise sciences
How did COVID-19 change sport and exercise sciences learning and research?
An examination of how Covid-19 has transformed learning and research in sport and exercise sciences.
COVID-19 + (CAH02-04-04) midwifery
How did COVID-19 reshape midwifery students’ education?
Insights on how COVID-19 reshaped midwifery education and student experiences.
COVID-19 + (CAH03-01-02) biology (non-specific)
Did COVID-19 undermine UK biology students’ learning and wellbeing?
Exploring how COVID-19 has altered biology education, student well-being, and the adaptability of UK higher education.
COVID-19 + (CAH02-04-08) learning disabilities nursing
How did COVID-19 reshape learning disabilities nursing students’ education?
Learn how COVID-19 has changed nursing education for students with learning disabilities, focusing on challenges and adaptations.
COVID-19 + (CAH17-01-01) business and management (non-specific)
What did COVID-19 mean for business and management students?
Learn how business and management students adjusted to educational challenges during COVID-19, integrating online learning and support systems.
COVID-19 + (CAH15-04-01) social work
How did COVID-19 reshape social work students’ learning?
Insight into how the pandemic has reshaped social work education.
COVID-19 + (CAH02-05-04) anatomy, physiology and pathology
What did COVID-19 change for anatomy, physiology and pathology students?
Learn how anatomy, physiology, and pathology students adapted to COVID-19's obstacles and shifted to online learning effectively.
COVID-19 + (CAH10-01-09) chemical, process and energy engineering
What did COVID-19 change for UK chemical, process and energy engineering students?
Learn how COVID-19 impacted UK chemical, process, and energy engineering students, from shifting classes online to adjusting mental health support.
COVID-19 + (CAH04-01-01) psychology (non-specific)
Did the pandemic reshape psychology students’ learning and wellbeing?
Explore how the pandemic influenced psychology students' education and well-being.
COVID-19 + (CAH02-05-03) biomedical sciences (non-specific)
What did COVID-19 change in biomedical sciences education?
Exploring the shifts in biomedical sciences education amid COVID-19.
COVID-19 + (CAH11-01-01) computer science
How did COVID-19 affect computer science students’ learning and assessment?
Insights into how computer science students have been impacted by COVID-19.
COVID-19 + (CAH03-01-03) ecology and environmental biology
How did COVID-19 change the experience of students studying ecology and environmental biology?
Exploring how COVID-19 has impacted ecology and environmental biology students' education.
COVID-19 + (CAH10-01-02) mechanical engineering
How did mechanical engineering students experience COVID-19?
Exploring how mechanical engineering students have adjusted to new learning methods during COVID-19.