Each year, all students in the last year of their study programme (e.g. at the end of the Bachelor’s programme) are given the chance to give feedback. Feedback on a study programme in its entirety is an important factor of quality assurance on the three policy levels: the university level, the faculty level and the level of a specific study programme.  

What is Study Programme Feedback by Students?

Study programme feedback consists of a structured and generic question set by means of which students can give feedback on their study programme’s content, teaching practice and organisational aspects. All students about to obtain their degree are surveyed about their study programme in its entirety. The survey takes place in the final year of the study programme, at the end of the second semester. The survey is held anonymously. 

The generic question set consists of items organized into several topics or sections:  

• general satisfaction 
• structure and content alignment
• organisation and supervision
• active learning
• assessment 
• internationalisation
• learning effect – general 
• learning effect
• sustainability
• entrepreneurship
• social engagement
• diversity
• research
• academic language proficiency
• workload

Since 2020, the question set also contains a separate section on the Master’s dissertation. This section – the so-called Master’s Dissertation Survey - contains 14 items specifically related to the Master’s dissertation (process, supervision, assessment, organisation). The survey is held annually, together with the Study Programme Feedback, and is presented to all students in the final year of their Master’s programme. More information can be found here. 

Study Programme Feedback vs. Study Programme Evaluations

Study Programme Feedback is the new term that has been adopted by the Education Council since 2020. It refers to the Study Programme Evaluations of old. Between 2010-2020, these evaluations took place on a two-yearly basis. Not only the term was updated, however. In 2019-2020, the question set and the methodology were thoroughly reviewed and adjusted. It was also decided to survey on a yearly basis from 2020 onwards. 

Study Programme Feedback: Proceedings

How, When and by Whom?

The Quality Assurance Office (part of DOWA) co-ordinates the study programme feedback proceedings.  

All students who are about to obtain their degree and/or about to graduate are invited to participate in the survey. The survey is held from the end of June to the end of September, and is open to students in Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, linking and preparation programmes, and Master-after-Master’s programmes. In the past, the survey was also held among students in the Specific Teacher Training Programme and postgraduate programmes. 

Processing and Using the Results

The Study Programme Feedback results are incorporated into the Ghent University Business Intelligence System,  UGI-onderwijsbeleid. UGI makes available all the results per item down to the level of the main subject (Dutch: afstudeerrichting). The reports also include reference frameworks containing aggregated results, presented in graphs or tables, for all study programmes within a faculty or for the entire university. The reference frameworks can be used by study programmes and/or main subjects to position themselves against or compare themselves with other study programmes. 

The Study Programme Feedback results are an important factor of quality assurance on the three policy levels: the university level, the faculty level, and the level of the individual study programme or main subject. After each release of UGI reports (each year, in the fall), the Education Council discusses the university-wide results Faculties and study programmes are invited to discuss their own results and use them for monitoring their education policy and quality assurance. This process is facilitated by the fact that UGI reports are integrated directly into the faculties’ and study programmes’ education monitors. 

Want to Know More?

More information about the faculties’ and study programmes’ education monitor can be found here.

Information in figures/reports about education at Ghent University, including the study programme feedback results, can be found in UGI-Onderwijsbeleid.