The Office for Students has released the results from its National Student Survey (NSS) 2025, which gathered feedback on the experience of graduating students. King’s College London (KCL) results showed a dramatic year-on-year increase in positive feedback. However, the University still falls behind London and National averages.
The annual survey, completed by UK final-year undergraduates, looks at 27 questions across seven themes: teaching on the course, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, and student voice. The survey aims to provide universities with feedback for improvement and an opportunity to compare themselves against a national benchmark.
Student participation in the survey sat at 75% for this year, a decline from last years 78%, despite initiatives from King’s on campus to increase turnout.
KCL’s performance
The 2025 NSS results displayed the areas of which graduating students were most and least satisfied with their experience at King’s. Assessment and feedback remain the least satisfactory category, specifically the clarity of marking criteria and the speed of feedback.
On the other hand, graduating students expressed high satisfaction with King’s learning resources and the teaching of courses, particularly in terms of student feedback opportunities and the teaching staff’s ability to explain their subject matter.
KCL’s performance compared to last year saw a huge improvement, with positivity measures increasing for all seven categories. The most notable increase was to student voice, which rose by eight points. The category involves a review of how well the student’s union represents students’ interests, mental wellbeing support, as well as how free students feel to express their ideas, opinions and beliefs.
Across the other themes, assessment and feedback increased by six points but remained the least successful category. Academic support, organisation and management both increased by five points, while learning resources only increased by one point. These improvements are particularly notable amid continued student frustration over poor administrative processes, and serious clerical errors.
KCL shared their response with Professor Adam Fagan, Vice-President (Education & Student Success) stating:
“It is very encouraging to see satisfaction among students improving. We want to ensure all our students receive a consistently excellent, forward-thinking education that enables them to succeed at King’s and thrive in their future careers.”
How King’s Stacks Up Against London Rivals
In comparison to King’s Russel Group counterparts in London, King’s sits bottom in six out of seven of the student survey categories. Only on assessment and feedback did King’s graduates provide higher positive scores than Imperial College London. King’s fell the most behind on learning resources and organisation, and management. The London School of Economics (LSE) held the highest ranking across the board, with Imperial College London (ICL) close behind.
KCL also fell behind its rivals in last year’s survey results, with its three competitors exceeding King’s on all seven themes. This first into a wider trend of King’s falling behind, including on national and international rankings and on combatting the gender pay gap within staff.
King’s VS the National Average – Catching Up?
King’s also failed to match the national average across all seven categories, only exceeding it on two of the 27 questions: “How often is the course intellectually stimulating?” and “To what extent do you get the right opportunities to give feedback on your course?”
The most notable gap is in assessment and feedback, where King’s sits 10% below the national average. This includes sub-questions focused on the clarity of marking criteria, the fairness of making and assessing, response time and feedback usefulness.
What’s next
King’s has previously emphasised the importance of the National Student Survey with the Vice President for Education & Student Success, Professor Adam Fagan, writing last year:
“By taking part in these surveys and other feedback exercises, and engaging with KCLSU, you are playing an active role in shaping your educational journey and enhancing King’s’ community for everyone, including future students. We’re continuously working to improve our students experience and while some developments may take time, others will be swift, and we will share progress with you, so you know we’re listening and acting on the feedback you’re giving us.“
Professor Rachel Mills CBE, Senior Vice President (Academic) said:
“We are delighted by the improvement in this year’s NSS results and thank all of our students who spent time providing us with feedback on their experience at King’s. These results show that our targeted and joined up approach, that focused particularly on academic support and the student voice is really beginning to make a tangible difference. Of course, we have more work to do and we are confident that the projects that are underway, and the new King’s 2030 strategy, will continue this focus and deliver the exceptional student experience we know our students deserve.”
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