Humanities NSS 2026 results show further improvement

10 Jul 2026

A message from Fiona Devine and Fiona Smyth

Dear All

We hope you have had the chance to read Duncan and Jenn’s message on the University’s National Student Survey (NSS) 2026 performance, following publication of the UK results on Wednesday by the Office for Students (OfS).

We would like to share some key headlines from our Faculty results and our initial thoughts. Overall, our results show encouraging improvements in many areas, building on the significant progress made in 2025. Many thanks to academic, PS and technical services colleagues from across the Faculty for all your hard work and commitment which has made these improvements possible. We really appreciate it.

Faculty overview

The overall positivity score for the Faculty is 82.2%. This is a 1.5 percentage point increase on last year.

The survey questions are organised into seven core themes. We are happy to say that our positivity scores for the Faculty have improved for all themes compared to 2025:

Academic support – 89.5% (+2.1%)
Assessment and feedback – 74.9% (+1.7%)
Learning opportunities – 81.8% (+0.2%)
Learning resources – 87.7% (+2.1%)
Organisation and management – 84.7% (+2.7%)
Student voice – 77.5% (+3.3%)
Teaching on my course – 86.6% (+0.1%)

We are particularly pleased with the increase in positivity for ‘student voice’ and ‘organisation and management’ which were a key focus of our NSS action plan this year, alongside ‘assessment and feedback’. It is fantastic to see that all the time and effort has been worthwhile.

There are some impressive results from each of our Schools, too. As in previous years, many scores for SEED were the highest across all the Schools in the University, with high scores in all themes. SALC saw the largest improvement in overall positivity in the Faculty and the highest score across the University for ‘teaching on my course’ (90.8%) and ‘academic support’ (92.1%). SoSS had the biggest improvement in the Faculty for scores on ‘academic support’ (+2.8%), while AMBS had the highest score in the University for ‘organisation and management’ (88%).

Following on from the positive remarks in the open comments section of the survey last year, we are again struck by the lovely words from many students recognising the support they have received from colleagues in all kinds of roles across the Faculty. It shows just how much our students value the care they receive, which can make such a positive impact during their time with us.

It is great to round the academic year off with a positive NSS but there is more to do. The Office for Students calculate a benchmark for each institution. This shows the result that would normally be expected for a comparable course or institution, taking account of factors such as subject area and student characteristics.

With an overall positivity rate of 81.5%, the University remains below benchmark (84.4%) for overall positivity. Like so many other aspects of higher education, we are in a very competitive environment, with many other universities increasing their NSS scores by an even higher margin. This only reiterates the need to continue our emphasis on improving the experience of all our students.

Helping good causes

At the launch of NSS 2026, the University pledged to donate £2 split equally between four good causes for each completed survey. Nearly £12,000 has been raised across the University for our Unexpected Financial Needs Fund, Manchester Central Foodbank, Barnabus and Ladybarn Community Hub. We are delighted that the Humanities figure is again more than £5,500.

Looking ahead

We will review our NSS scores and open comments in detail with key colleagues across the Faculty over the coming weeks and months. The successful introduction of Canvas as our new central learning environment, and many improvements to systems and processes supporting our students and giving them the opportunity to give feedback, has provided a good foundation on which we can build.

We are very keen to continue our work to make a positive shift in raising the importance and excellence of teaching and learning across our Schools, and our incoming Vice-Dean for Teaching Learning and Students, Alvin Birdi, will play a leading role in this area.

Thank you again for everything you do for our students and for one another. These results reflect the dedication and professionalism of colleagues across our community, and we are very grateful for the difference you make every day.

Regards Fiona and Fiona

Professor Fiona Devine, Vice-President and Dean

Professor Fiona Smyth, Deputy Dean and Vice-Dean for Teaching, Learning and Students