SCOTTISH students are some of the most satisfied in the UK when it comes to rating their universities, a new survey has shown.
Institutions north of the Border have been given an overall satisfaction rating of 86 out of a possible 100, compared to 85 in England and 84 in Wales.
The National Student Survey, compiled by Ipsos Mori, found Scottish students were particularly happy with the teaching of their courses.
However, there were lower levels of satisfaction for the feedback they received about assessment and the quality of their student unions.
At university level, St Andrews topped the student satisfaction ratings in Scotland with a rating of 93% - joint second in the UK.
The Open University in Scotland was the only other higher education provider to match St Andrews, also receiving an overall satisfaction rating of 93%.
Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh came next in the survey with a rating of 90%, followed by Glasgow University with 89%.
The lowest student satisfaction ratings were for Scotland's Rural College, Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh University.
St Andrews vice-principal Professor Lorna Milne said the results were a continuing vote of confidence in the quality of teaching at the university.
She said: "I'm very proud of the standards our students achieve and it is gratifying to see them rate their university equally highly."
Dr James Miller, director of the Open University in Scotland, added: "We are delighted at the positive feedback from our students which is testament to the commitment of all our staff."
Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said the survey was that latest in a string of positive endorsements of Scottish higher education.
Recent surveys have shown that graduates from Scotland's universities are more likely to be in positive destinations of work or further study after six months than their counterparts in the rest of the UK and also command the highest average starting salaries.
He said: "For prospective students, this survey is a clear message from their peers already studying in a Scottish institution that you can have full confidence in the quality of higher education on offer in Scotland."
However, Gordon Maloney, president of NUS Scotland, said there were important areas where universities could do better.
He said: "It's good news for students and universities in Scotland that overall satisfaction remains high, but there's always room for improvement.
"While the vast majority of students are satisfied, and Scotland continues to perform slightly above the UK as a whole, scores for assessment and feedback show we have to do more to ensure students are properly enabled to achieve their full potential.
"Assessment is a crucial part of the learning process, not simply a hoop to jump through, and receiving feedback promptly, and comments in detail, are vital to ensuring students can improve and do better in future work.
"Universities should use these results to work even harder to improve teaching quality, but as part of wider, active involvement by students in their own learning."
The survey compilers canvassed the opinions of around 265,000 final-year students at 115 higher education institutions in the UK.
Students were asked to respond to over 20 questions which covered topics such as teaching, personal development, assessment and feedback, learning resources and the management of their university.
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