NSS – Guidance for Sharing Interim Response Rates

Ipsos MORI will share interim response rate reports with providers on a weekly basis from our chosen start date (w/c 07 February 2022).

Sharing this information with students and departments has been found to boost final response rates; this is both permitted and encouraged but is subject to greater restrictions than in previous years as OfS is now designated as a producer of Official Statistics, and therefore complies with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics. 

Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the OfS reconsidering its approach to providing access to NSS response rates in advance of publication in the future.

Please ensure that all colleagues with a role directly involved in supporting the NSS are aware of the following:

1. Only share NSS response rate information if it is necessary and has a clear rationale e.g. that sharing is necessary to achieve higher response rates, and/or for quality assurance purposes. 
2. Only share NSS response rate information in a targeted way so that it reaches only those directly involved in completion of the NSS.
3. Do not share NSS response rate information with anyone externally, and do not share this information in any location that can be accessed externally or by those not directly involved in completing the NSS e.g. an open social media channel.
4. When sharing NSS response rate information please ensure that you include a statement to alert the individuals of their responsibility to treat the information as confidential, and not for wider or external circulation.

How should the dissemination of response rate data be documented?

The University records where results are shared from TLD  but those who wish to share interim response rates locally during fieldwork have a duty to make sure that they are shared only with relevant and targeted groups. The strategy must be documented in a Faculty/School NSS Communication Plan.  Please liaise with your School and/or Faculty Student Experience lead in the first instance. 

The document must be on record for inspection by the OfS or the Office for Statistics Regulation in the event of a breach of the Code of Practice for Statistics.

This plan should include the following information:

• Details of each group the information is released to E.g. “Final Year Philosophy Students.”  Documenting the target audience is sufficient – it is not necessary to document each individual who has had access to the information.
• Details of the information that has been shared with them E.g. “Provider-level and Philosophy department interim response rates (as of 13/03/19)”
• Method of distribution E.g. “Entry on Philosophy Department VLE”
• Details of the time the information was shared E.g. “Posted at 19:00 on 14/03/19”
• Operational justification for releasing this information E.g. “Philosophy Department response rate shared to encourage participation in the survey.”

If you have any questions regarding these new guidelines, please contact teachingandlearningsurveys@manchester.ac.uk