Studiebarometeret is a national student survey that is sent to more than 70 000 students each autumn. The survey asks for the students perceptions of educational quality in their study programs. The purpose of Studiebarometeret is to strenghten the quality work in higher education and give useful information about educational quality. On Studiebarometeret.no you can easily:

• find the students' evaluations of their study program
• compare results for different study programs
• see the development over time for each study program

The portal is useful for applicants, students, institutions and members of staff and others with an interest in  higher education. New results are published in February each year. Studiebarometeret is initiated by the Ministry of Education and Research and conducted by the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT).

 

Questions on vocational training

Who have had vocational training?

We ask all students in the survey whether they have had vocational training (yes/no). Only respondents who select “yes” receive the question on their experience with vocational training.

«Vocational training» refers to study programmes with vocational training periods determined by the National Curriculum and/or supervised vocational training. The vocational training has to be a part of the study programme, and the institution must be responsible for quality and supervision. We explain this to respondents by way of an “information button”.

Criteria for displaying vocational training responses in the web portal

The same group of students may have differing opinions on what constitutes vocational training, and consequently on whether or not they have had vocational training.

To ensure that only responses from study programmes where the students have actually had vocational training are included for these questions, NOKUT uses the following selection criteria: a minimum of six individuals in the study programme must have answered at last three out of seven vocational training questions, and these individuals must comprise a minimum of 49.5% of those who have answered the Student survey. That is, at least half of the respondents in a programme must have selected “yes” for the opening question “Have you received vocational training organized by your study programme?” Additionally, at least six of these respondents must have answered a minimum of three out of seven question on vocational training. The criteria is crosschecked with other available information, and is robust.

Programmes without data on vocational training in the portal

For study programmes that do not have scores for vocational practice, we display the text «Not enough data/no vocational practice training” in the portal.

Why did NOKUT create Studiebarometeret?

NOKUT administers and maintains the national Student Survey and its associated web portal, studiebarometeret.no, as mandated by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. The purpose of the portal is to provide concise and user-friendly information about students’ opinion of the quality of education offered at Norwegian higher education institutions. This information is meant to help strengthen the further development of quality in higher education, and to provide applicants with useful information that can help them to choose between different study programs and campuses.

The target audience for the Studiebarometeret includes:

• Institutions offering higher education
• Higher education applicants
• Students
• The Government
• Other parties interested in higher education

One of NOKUT’s core mandates is to promote quality in higher education. NOKUT’s work is also meant to help ensure that society as a whole can be confident in the quality of Norway’s higher education. The Studiebarometeret is an important tool for promoting and spreading knowledge of the quality of education.

Contacts

If you have any questions or comments about the Studiebarometeret, feel free to contact us at Studiebarometeret@nokut.no. Alternatively, you can contact the following persons directly:

Ole-Jacob Skodvin

Director of Analysis and Development

Phone: +47 21 02 18 29

            

Magnus Strand Hauge

Senior Advisor, Department of Analysis and Development

Phone: +47 90 10 34 28

The Survey

The questionnaire

The survey contains questions about students’ opinion on the quality of different aspects of their study programme. Questions concern the study programme the student is enrolled in, not the institution or specific courses. All students receive the same questionnaire, independent of their study programme. The survey takes approximately 10-12 minutes to complete, provided the student does not provide extensive comments when answering. Students can complete the survey in Norwegian, English, or Sami.

The questionnaire can be downloaded by clicking the link below:

Questionnaire - Studiebarometeret 2023 - English

Changes in the questionnaire

We continuously seek to improve the questions in the survey, in order to make them as precise and succinct as possible. At the same time, in order to preserve the basis for comparison and analysis over time, we wish to keep the questions as similar as possible from year to year. You can see an overview of the survey’s core questions displayed in bar charts on studiebarometeret.no/en/.

We keep 3/4 of the questionnaire the same each year, while 1/4 can be changed. This means that we can take whole question batteries (sets of related questions) in or out of the questionnaire, depending on what we wish to focus on in a given year.  This system, using alternating batteries, also means that we can ask the same questions at different intervals (for example on a biennial basis). Changes are made in consultation with the education sector, for example through our consultation group. In 2015 a working group, consisting of three participants from the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions (UHR), contributed to changes in the questionnaire with the aim of improving the survey’s usefulness to quality assurance work at the institutions. We also evaluate questions in interviews with students.

Changes in 2021

The following changes were made to the 2021 questionnaire, compared with the previous year: 

• The questions on the study environment and infrastructure were reintroduced to the questionnaire
• In 2021 the Norwegian society was still affected by the corona pandemic, and a large share of the questionnaire's recipients started their studies after the start of the pandemic. The questions in 2021 differ from those in 2020 because the 2020 questions were primarily concerned with effects related to the lockdown of spring 2020. The 2021 questionnaire includes questions on online teaching and the academic and physical learning evnironment during the pandemic. 
• A battery of question on learning outcome descriptors was included. The results from these questions are used in NOKUT's ongoing evaluation of  the Norwegian qualifications framework

Changes in 2020

The following changes were made to the 2020 questionnaire, compared with the previous year: 

• The questionnaire contained a number of questions on the corona pandemic and how it has affected students. These questions were developed by The Nordic Institute for Studies of Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU) in collaboration with NOKUT.
• One battery of questions on vocational training is included (vocational training was covered extensively with a number of question batteries in 2019). The battery of questions is new, and results cannot be compared to results from 2018 and earlier. Changes to the questions were made on the basis of results from the questions on vocational training in the 2019 questionnaire 
• Some of the recurring questions were removed in 2020, in order to reduce the total length of the questionnaire which had been increased significantly with the additiona of questions on the corona pandemic 

Changes in 2019

The 2019 questionnaire has been altered in the following ways, compared to 2018:

• The questions about upper secondary education and the transition to higher education were removed.
• The questions about supervised professional training have been expanded considerably, and include a set of "fact-based" questions in addition to those addressing student satisfaction with professional training. The questions on student satisfaction have been expanded and separated into three batteries: organisation, academic supervision, and the academic content of supervised professional training. 
• The battery of questions about working life relevance has been altered. Some questions have been removed/added, while others have been replaced with a set of more detailed questions. 

Changes in 2018

Most of the questionnaire in 2018 is unchanged compared to 2017, but some changes were made:

• The questions from 2017 about internationalisation were removed.
• Several questions about upper secondary education and the transition to higher education were added.
• The questions about teaching, feedback and academic councelling, student participation and working life relevance have been changed and improved.
• The two questions about goals/grades were removed.

Changes in 2017

Most of the questionnaire was left unchanged. However, NOKUT did make a few alterations, based on feedback from institutions and the consultation group as well as our own analyses. Based on the feedback, NOKUT created new questions and conducted a validation of the new question. This was done by an electronic survey among students (670 respondents) and two focus group interviews with students. The validation was valuable and led to some adjustments. The survey for 2017 is about the same length as the survey for 2016, and shorter than the survey for 2015.

The following changes were made:

• Norwegian Agency for Digital Learning in Higher Education (NUV) and NOKUT have developed a new inventory of questions about the use of digital tools in higher education. The questions are different from last year’s survey. Last year’s survey had an additional survey about the use of digital tools and media in education. This addition will not be included this year.
• Proba research is conducting a survey on barriers in higher education for students with disabilities. The Student Survey for 2017 will contain a question asking the students if they are willing to participate in the survey from Proba research.
• The Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in education (SIU) and NOKUT have developed several new questions about internationalisation in higher education. These questions replace last year’s questions on the same topic. The questions about internationalisation are filtered based on the student’s responses. For example, Norwegian students who have studied abroad will get different questions from international students studying in Norway.
• For 2017, the institutions can select up to two inventories of questions from a list of four additional/selectable inventories:
  • A) Extent of feedback and academic supervision
  • B) Satisfaction with feedback and academic supervision
  • C) Teaching and learning methods – usage
  • D) Teaching and learning methods – contribution

  The first two inventories were also part of the Student Survey in 2015. The last two inventories have been a standard part of the Student Survey for the last three years. If the institution chooses not to include any of the four selectable inventories, the survey will be shorter than last year’s survey.

• The inventory “study environment” from last year’s survey has been split in two. The questions remain unchanged, except for one question, which has been moved to a different inventory (“organisation of the study programme”).
• There is a new inventory called “organisation of the study programme”.
• The inventory “student assessment” has had a major change. Only two of the five previous questions has been kept, and we have introduced four new questions.
• Time spent on academic activities: The explanatory text has been changed.

Changes in 2016

Most of the questionnaire was left unchanged in 2016. However, NOKUT did make a few alterations, based on feedback from institutions and the consultation group as well as our own analyses. We added some questions and removed other. In sum, however, the questionnaire was somewhat shorter than in 2015.

The major changes for 2016 were as follows:

• In relation to a pilot project, in cooperation with Norwegian Agency for Digital Learning in Higher Education (Norgesuniversitetet), we added a battery of questions on the use of technology in education. Additionally, we offered respondents the option of answering an extra set of questions from Norgesuniversitetet’s survey «Digital tilstand», accessed through a separate link (see under question battery 16 in the questionnaire).
• We added a battery of questions on internationalisation. The questions were developed in cooperation with the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU). These questions mostly measure the extent of internationalisation rather than the quality, as opposed to most of the other questions in the survey.  The questions are therefore not directly comparable to results from other batteries.
• The two batteries of questions on «scope of feedback and advising» and «satisfaction with feedback and advertising» were taken out. The battery on “importance for overall assessment of the study programme” was also removed.
• Questions on "students’ expectations regarding their studies" from 2015 were changed to "(student’s impression of) expectations from academic staff".
• We made some changes in the battery on working life relevance. Consequently, the score for the index variable was lower compared to previous years: we included a question on cooperation with workplaces in the labour market, and combined two questions on knowledge and skills into one question on workplace relevant competence. Our assessment is that the changes have improved the index, and has ensured that it covers the topic of working life relevance better than previous versions.

Changes in 2015

The major changes to the questionnaire in 2015 were as follows:

• We removed three question batteries: Reasons behind choice of study programme, Student exchange abroad, and Work relevance (whether your job is relevant to your studies).
• We included four new question batteries: Scope of feedback and academic supervision, Satisfaction with feedback and academic supervision, Expectations, and Importance for overall assessment of the study programme.
• We removed three questions on Time allocation: (time spent on) Studies in total, Unpaid work related to studies and Other unpaid work.
• We added two questions on Study- and learning environments: The relationship between students and academic staff and Administration and information.
• NOKUT exchanged the term «teachers» with «academic staff», and provided clarification of the terminology: “By academic staff, we are referring to teachers, teaching assistents, lab assistents and other academic staff contributing to teaching.”