What UK Students Say About Personal Development: NSS Feedback Analysis (9,219 Comments, 2018–2025)
Students are overwhelmingly positive about how their courses support personal development. Tone is consistently strong across major student groups, with small gaps by disability, mode and sex.
Key findings
- 9,219 comments analysed across UK programmes (2018–2025)
- The signal is strongly positive across the board. Young and mature students are near-identical on tone (indices 69.1 vs 68.4).
- Small gaps to watch: disabled students (66.3) trail those not disabled (69.5); part-time (67.4) sit below full-time (69.2); male students (66.4) are below fe...
What students are saying in this category
- The signal is strongly positive across the board. Young and mature students are near-identical on tone (indices 69.1 vs 68.4).
- Small gaps to watch: disabled students (66.3) trail those not disabled (69.5); part-time (67.4) sit below full-time (69.2); male students (66.4) are below female students (70.3).
- By subject mix (CAH), larger groups mostly cluster in the high 60s to low 70s. Subjects allied to medicine (73.0) and business and management (71.4) lead; design/creative (65.1) and computing (66.2) are relatively lower but still positive.
- Comment volume in this category skews towards full-time (70.5%) and younger students (63.6%); 60.5% of comments are from female students.
Segment variation at a glance
| Segment |
Comments |
Positive % |
Negative % |
Sentiment idx |
| Age — Young |
5,866 |
90.5 |
8.6 |
69.1 |
| Age — Mature |
3,145 |
91.0 |
8.0 |
68.4 |
| Disability — Not disabled |
7,098 |
91.1 |
8.0 |
69.5 |
| Disability — Disabled |
1,912 |
89.2 |
9.9 |
66.3 |
| Mode — Full-time |
6,501 |
90.7 |
8.4 |
69.2 |
| Mode — Part-time |
2,421 |
90.3 |
8.6 |
67.4 |
| Mode — Apprenticeship |
78 |
100.0 |
0.0 |
84.7 |
| Sex — Female |
5,582 |
91.3 |
7.8 |
70.3 |
| Sex — Male |
3,411 |
89.6 |
9.4 |
66.4 |
Note: Sentiment index ranges −100 to +100; higher is more positive. Apprenticeship volumes are small.
Subject mix within this category (CAH, larger samples ≥300)
| Subject group (CAH) |
Comments |
Sentiment idx |
| Subjects allied to medicine (CAH02) |
990 |
73.0 |
| Business and management (CAH17) |
565 |
71.4 |
| Psychology (CAH04) |
580 |
69.9 |
| Language and area studies (CAH19) |
380 |
69.9 |
| Social sciences (CAH15) |
861 |
68.7 |
| Historical, philosophical and religious studies (CAH20) |
395 |
67.9 |
| Engineering and technology (CAH10) |
331 |
67.2 |
| Biological and sport sciences (CAH03) |
328 |
66.9 |
| Combined and general studies (CAH23) |
405 |
66.3 |
| Computing (CAH11) |
428 |
66.2 |
| Design, and creative and performing arts (CAH25) |
636 |
65.1 |
What this means in practice
- Protect and scale what works: keep personal growth activities visible, timely and clearly linked to outcomes (confidence, skills, next steps).
- Close small gaps for disabled and part-time students: check access to development opportunities (timing, format, location, accessibility), monitor participation, and follow up with targeted nudges.
- Address the male–female gap: ensure development activities feel relevant and inclusive, and showcase diverse role models and pathways.
- Prioritise support in relatively lower-index subject areas (e.g., design/creative, computing, engineering): embed structured reflection, authentic projects and clear progression routes.
How Student Voice Analytics helps you
- Track topic tone and volume over time, with drill-down from institution to school/department and cohort.
- Like-for-like comparisons across CAH subject groups and by demographics (age, disability, ethnicity, mode, sex).
- Easy export of concise, anonymised summaries for programme teams and committees.
Data at a glance (2018–2025)
- Volume: 9,219 comments; 100.0% sentiment coverage.
- Overall mood: 90.3% Positive, 8.8% Negative, 0.9% Neutral; sentiment index +68.2.
- Who’s speaking: 63.6% young; 70.5% full-time; 60.5% female.