Great results for Popular Music and WBP in 2017 NSS

The RNCM has achieved an exceptional 89% in this year’s National Student Survey for overall student satisfaction, which showed outstanding results for Popular Music and the School of Wind, Brass and Percussion.

Conducted annually since 2005, the NSS is a national initiative running across all publicly funded Higher Education Institutions in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the majority in Scotland. Through a series of 27 questions (scored 1 to 5), final year undergraduates are asked to provide feedback on seven areas of their degree programme: teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, learning community, student voice and overall satisfaction.

At the RNCM, results were gathered for both the BMus (Hons) Degree, which included an impressive 91% for the School of Wind, Brass and Percussion, and the BMus (Hons) Degree in Popular Music, which received a fantastic 100% for overall student satisfaction.

Manchester is renowned for its legendary popular music scene with bands such as The Hollies, the Bee Gees, Buzzcocks, The Smiths, The Fall, Joy Division, New Order, The Stone Roses, James, Oasis and Elbow all making their mark on the city over the years. Building on this incredible culture, the RNCM’s popular music course, the only four-year popular music degree on offer in the UK and one of a small number in the world, provides intensive training for instrumentalists and singers with a high level of performing ability who intend to work as freelance musicians, bands and artists in the popular music industry, or as a preparation for postgraduate study. The outstanding result from this year’s NSS highlights that RNCM popular music students are very happy with how the course is run, in particular the teaching, learning opportunities and academic feedback.

RNCM Principal, Professor Linda Merrick, said: ‘The NSS is a very important survey for the higher education sector as it provides an opportunity for our students to reflect on the quality of teaching and learning they receive. In June the RNCM was awarded Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework which, together with this strong NSS result and the second successive 100% employability outcome for our graduates, confirms our commitment to providing a world-class experience for our students.’

The overall result showed the College was also well above the Higher Education Council for England’s (HEFCE) benchmark of 81%.

9 August 2017