University News Last updated 08 July
Birmingham City University has recorded another year of strong improvement in the National Student Survey (NSS), with results showing students increasingly recognise the positive changes being made to their experience.
Released on Wednesday 8 July, the 2026 NSS results show BCU's overall positivity score has risen from 83.6% in 2025 to 86%, averaged across the survey's 24 core questions.
The University's overall score also exceeds this year's Office for Students (OfS) benchmark of 84.3%, demonstrating continued progress against the national measure.
Based on the average across the main 24 questions, BCU now ranks in the top third of institutions in the higher education sector.
Key takeaways from NSS 2026:
- Overall student positivity has increased – BCU's average positivity score across the NSS's 24 core questions has risen from 83.6% to 86%.
- BCU is above the national benchmark – the University's overall score of 86% exceeds the OfS benchmark of 84.3%.
- Students feel their voices are being heard – the Student Voice theme increased by 3.2 percentage points to 84.1%.
- Course organisation and management has improved – this theme increased by 3.2 percentage points to 79.9%
- Students are increasingly confident that their feedback leads to action – BCU scored 8.6 percentage points above the OfS benchmark for this measure.
The results reflect sustained improvements across the survey, with particularly strong gains in Organisation and Management, and Student Voice.
These improvements suggest students increasingly feel their courses are well organised and that their feedback is listened to and acted upon.
The NSS results build on positive findings from the latest Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES), where overall satisfaction with course quality increased to 91.2% in 2026, up from 90.4% the previous year.
Vice-Chancellor Professor David Mba said: "These results are a fantastic sign that we are moving in the right direction.
“Last year, I said we needed to maintain our momentum as we worked towards our ambition of delivering the talent for tomorrow, and I am delighted to see that reflected in this year's results.
"The improvements across the survey demonstrate our continued commitment to placing students at the heart of everything we do, and I would like to thank colleagues across the University whose dedication has helped make this progress possible."
Professor Marcia Wilson, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience, added: "I would like to thank every colleague for the commitment and care you show in delivering an excellent experience for our students.
“The positive results we've seen this week are a direct reflection of the hard work taking place across the University.
"Building on the improvements identified in this year's Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES), the NSS results provide further evidence that the actions we are taking are making a meaningful difference to our students' experience.
“While we should celebrate this progress, we will continue to focus on the areas where we can improve even further."
Detailed NSS 2026 course-level results will be shared directly with colleagues who are responsible for reviewing and acting on them. These insights will help inform enhancement activity across the University as planning for NSS 2027 is already underway.